SPRING LAKE — Heart, determination and belief.
Those qualities - along with a handful of big play touchdowns and a huge fourth-down defensive stop when it mattered the most - powered the Reeths-Puffer football team to a much-needed first win of the season, 35-28 over host Spring Lake on Friday night.
R-P is now 1-2 on the year, while Spring Lake fell to 2-1.
R-P head coach Cody Kater said the win signifies the team’s focus on doing the necessary work to improve every day in practice, even after two tough season-opening losses, and letting the rest take care of itself. 
R-P's Ja'Michael Williams races up the sideline. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“I don’t care what people are saying outside of our walls, we know the fight that we have,” Kater said. “I’m really proud of our players and of our coaches tonight.
“We know inside our walls that we’re just worried about what we have to do at that next practice. I’m glad our kids reflected that tonight.”
Friday’s win snaps a seven-game losing streak for R-P, dating back to Week 4 of last season. It also provides some welcome momentum heading into next week's rivalry matchup against Mona Shores.
“It feels good, man - we really needed that,” said R-P senior Cal Millis, who had a huge game on offense and defense. “We need to get a winning culture, people need to start digging down and believing.
R-P's Cal Millis finds open space to run. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“We’ve got Mona Shores next week, and I believe.”
While R-P’s offense took center stage much of the night, it was a dramatic defensive play that sealed the victory. Spring Lake had a fourth down at the R-P 24 with under a minute to play, and a touchdown could have tied the game.
The Lakers had been running the ball well all night, but R-P’s defense held strong, stopping Spring Lake just short of the marker and forcing a turnover on downs with 48 seconds left.
That allowed the offense to take possession, kill the rest of the clock and put win number one on ice.
R-P's Mason Darke leaps to make a great catch. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“I looked at the D-line and I said, ‘It’s all or nothing right here,’” said Millis, who plays middle linebacker. “We had to stop them. I shoot the A gap, I stood him up, I wrapped him up, but I didn’t have my feet under me. Then I see Gus, Troy, the linebackers, and boom. We dug in deep.”
On the offensive side, R-P was looking for and found a quick start. After scoring just seven first half points across their first two games, the Rockets matched that on the first play from scrimmage.
Junior quarterback Braylon Swain connected with Mason Darke on a 79-yard touchdown pass, and the PAT put the Rockets up 7-0 right away. It was the first of four R-P scores in the first half.
“That was a huge focus,” Kater said of the quick start. “We were able to make some adjustments going forward and get these guys to be able to play fast. That was one thing I was really happy with.
R-P quarterback Braylon Swain lofts a pass under pressure. Photo/Jeremy Clark
"Being able to get our offense going, that helps our defense. We have to be able to do that.”
Spring Lake answered back with a 12-yard scoring run by quarterback Landon O’Donnell to tie the score at 7-7.
Millis, who plays running back on offense, then capped the first quarter with an exciting 46-yard TD run, and the extra point put R-P up 14-7.
On the first play of the second quarter, with R-P backed up to its own 5-yard line, Swain found sophomore Ja’Michael Williams on a deep route for an elecrifying 95-yard touchdown catch and run, and the extra point made it 21-7.
Millis fights to break a tackle. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Spring Lake responded again with a one-yard touchdown run by O’Donnell to pull within 21-13.
Minutes later, Swain tossed his third touchdown pass, a 21-yard strike to Millis, to make it 28-13. The Lakers then scored on a 68-yard pass from O’Donnell to Tyler Bolhuis, and added an O’Donnell two-point run, to pull within 28-21 at halftime.
Spring Lake tied the game on the first possession after halftime on a 10-yard touchdown run by Bolhuis.
R-P retook the lead with 2:35 to play in the third quarter on a 13-yard TD pass from Swain to Williams. 
R-P's Bobby Gamble dives to make a tackle. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, but that might have been different if the R-P defense had not made the game-saving stop on the Lakers’ last possession.
Swain was 14-for-19 passing for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Millis rushed for 110 yards, caught three passes for 49 yards and scored two TDs. He also recorded 10 tackles on defense.
Darke caught five passes for 135 yards and a TD, while Williams had four receptions for 125 yards and two scores.