BYRON CENTER – On Friday night, the Reeths-Puffer football team got a first-hand look at the type of program it would like to become in a 42-7 road loss to Byron Center.
There was a time when Byron Center was struggling like the Rockets, before building and becoming a respected powerhouse program.
The Bulldogs had back-to-back losing seasons in 2017 and 2018, but since then the have not lost more than three games in a season.
That includes the 2024 season, when they advanced to the state finals and finished as the Division 2 runner-up.
R-P's Mason Darke tries to get past a Byron Center defender. Photo/Tyler Lirones
“Byron Center does a great job,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater. “They’ve built this thing from the ground up. Just watching right now, I see youth football team players running around trying to pick up trash. They’re making sure they’re taking care of their own. They’ve really done a great job of building this thing from the ground up, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“These little things add up because programs are not built overnight. We have to figure out how to get there, too.”
In order for the Rockets to have better results, they will have to learn to execute plays from the start of games, something that’s been an issue all season and continued on Friday.
After one quarter the Rockets trailed 21-7 and Byron Center was marching down the field.
R-P's Cal Millis tries to find an opening in the defense. Photo/Tyler Lirones
"That’s the thing we’re most upset with, because it comes down to execution," Kater said. "We’re having a difficult time executing right away and imposing our will.
“It just comes down to getting ourselves ready during the day. We have to understand how we’re sleeping, waking up and what we’re thinking about."
Byron Center’s Tate Bainbridge scored on a six-yard run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 9:58 left in the opening quarter.
Just 83 seconds later, Easton Wychers found Cam Payne for a 44-yard touchdown pass, making the score 14-0 with 8:35 left in the first quarter.
R-P's kickoff team in action. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets scored their only touchdown with 7:06 left in the first quarter when Braylon Swain found Mason Darke for an 81-yard touchdown pass. At that point R-P only trailed 14-7.
But the Bulldogs kept pouring it on after that. Bainbridge punched in a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-7 with 2:17 left in the first quarter.
Wychers added a 17-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-7 with 10:36 left in the second quarter.
The final score of the first half came with 12 seconds left when Wychers connected with Chas Swartz for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
The Rockets get instruction on the sidelines. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Bulldogs led 35-7 at halftime.
The lone score of the second half came with 4:59 left in the third quarter on a nine-yard TD run for Byron Center.
Darke led the offensive attack for Reeths-Puffer with seven catches for 112 yards while Swain was 11-of-16 passing for 130 yards.
“We love to highlight him,” Kater said about Darke. “He doesn’t surprise us on game days because we see it all week in practice. He’s one of those pieces that helps build a program. I don’t think any team that we’ve played this season wouldn’t want to have him on their team.”
Reeths-Puffer is now 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the O-K Green conference standings. The Rockets will host Muskegon next Friday in a rivalry game to wrap up conference play.