MUSKEGON TWP. - The Reeths-Puffer football team was a pretty mentally and physically taxed squad following last Friday’s 46-6 loss to Mona Shores.
It showed on Monday, when the Rockets stayed inside, and off the practice field, due to a lack of immediately available bodies.
Some kids were sick, some were dinged up with moderate injuries, and overall it was just a good day for the Rockets to remain indoors and work on the mental part of their game, according to R-P head coach Cody Kater.
“We had some sickness last week, we had a few guys who were out toward the end of the week, and we played like it,” Kater said. “We had about nine guys out on Monday, which made it difficult to practice, so we had to kind of pivot a bit.”
Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets were back on the practice field on Tuesday, however, determined to pick up the pace and be adequately prepared for Friday night’s O-K Green conference game against Grand Rapids Union at Houseman Field.
There are probably some fans who are thinking that Union may be the perfect opponent to start a turnaround against, considering R-P’s recent record against the Red Hawks.
The Rockets have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the teams, including last year, when they posted a 48-13 victory, and 2023, when they won 48-7.
Overall R-P has a 15-2 record against Union.
Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Red Hawks are 0-4 this season, but they have come close to breaking through, falling 7-6 to Okemos and 14-8 to Hamilton. They also scored 19 points against Forest Hills Northern, one of R-P’s O-K Green conference opponents.
“They are well coached, and they have some good athletes on both sides of the ball,” Kater said about Union. “Their offense will stretch you, and defensively they do a good job of giving you different looks that you’re not used to. We need to build some confidence throughout the week, so that we can play with confidence.
“We can’t allow last week to beat us twice. We have to pick up the pace at practice so we can execute at a higher level.”
Lack of execution
Kater and his staff have been stressing “the process” – making sure the players are focused on improving in practice, so the team can be the best possible version of itself.
The words on the back of the tee-shirts that the coaches wear at practice sum it up - "Our best us."
But the final exam every week still comes on Friday nights, according to Kater. It’s not necessarily about winning or losing, but playing as well as you can, even against really tough opponents like Mona Shores.
Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets fell short in that respect last Friday, Kater said.
They were outgained in total yards, 331-138. They managed 101 yards through the air, but were outgained 272-37 on the ground.
R-P only converted 2 of 11 third down attempts and had four turnovers, including three interceptions.
They gave up their share of big plays, including a 53-yard touchdown run, a 60 yard pick-six and a 27-yard touchdown run.
Mona Shores might have won either way, Kater said, but the Rockets did not put their best foot forward.
Photo/Tyler Lirones
“It’s about execution,” he said. “Out of 38 plays, our offensive line executed on six of them perfectly. The entire offense, out of 38 plays, ended up having five plays where we had everyone execute the way they are supposed to.
“Obviously it has something to do with our coaching. There’s a missing piece in that formula that we need to evaluate and change. The kids need to take ownership, too. We spend far too many hours practicing to only have five of 38 plays executed.
“We want to at least put a fight up, and we’re not doing that at times. One of our players said it really well after the game on Friday – we are hooting and hollering until the other team shows up, then for some reason we get more tired and we don’t execute. We fall victim to making too big of a deal out of Friday nights, instead of simply finding ways to execute.”
Road warriors
The Rockets have been road warriors for most of the season. They opened at home against Forest Hills Central in late August, but Friday’s game will be the fourth straight on the road.
But fans who typically only catch the home games at Rocket Stadium will have more chances in the coming weeks.
The Rockets will return home a week from Friday against Forest Hills Northern, then will travel to play Byron Center on Nov. 10.
Photo/Tyler Lirones
The last two regular season games will both be at home, against Muskegon on Oct. 17 and Forest Hills Eastern on Oct. 24.
The home field advantage is not quite as pronounced at the high school level as it is in college or the pros, according to Kater, but the Rockets will be very happy to host a game next week, he said.
“We are so far away in the O-K conference,” Kater said, eluding to long bus trips to play away games. “It screws up our game day a little bit. It doesn’t give us as much time to relax a bit, eat and make sure we are prepared for the game.
“The kids will be excited to be home next week. We’ve been away so long.”