MUSKEGON TWP. - The big question last week was whether the improving Reeths-Puffer football team was ready to give the mighty Muskegon Big Reds a run for their money.
The answer, in one respect, turned out to be yes. People who only know the final score – 45-14 in favor of Muskegon – might find that ridiculous, but a closer look at the numbers supports the argument a little bit.
R-P only trailed 13-0 at halftime, and 19-7 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Rockets had a 309-276 advantage in total offensive yards, including a 168-68 advantage in passing yards. R-P ran 61 offensive plays, compared to 48 for Muskegon, and had a 71-67 percent edge in third down efficiency (10-for-14 for R-P). Each team had 15 first downs.
Several Rockets had very good nights individually.
Quarterback Braylon Swain completed 17 of 24 passes for 168 yards and one touchdown. Running back Ke’Ondre Sanders had another good week, rushing 18 times for 111 yards, including a 66-yard burst.
Defensively, Paul Smith had four tackles and three assists, Bobby Gamble had four tackles and Ty Ross had two tackles and two assists.
But Reeths-Puffer also had a huge advantage in one deadly team stat: The Rockets had five turnovers – including four lost fumbles - compared to none for the Big Reds, and that derailed the entire effort.
The fumbles came at absolutely awful times. The first was in the second quarter, when R-P coughed up the ball at its own 32, and Muskegon scored to take a 13-0 lead.
The Rockets drove to the Muskegon one-yard line later in the quarter, but fumbled to waste what could have been a momentum-changer.
R-P trailed 25-7 in the fourth quarter, then another fumble gave the Big Reds the ball at the Rocket 31. A few plays late Muskegon scored and it was 33-7.
Reeths-Puffer fumbled again on its very next possession, Muskegon took over at the R-P 31 again and scored, making it 39-7.
The series of misfortunes was capped off late in the game when the Big Reds returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
“It was 19-7 with 11:50 remaining in the game, then we had three turnovers in a row and the long kick return,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater. “We also put a couple on the ground that didn’t result in turnovers. It felt like it was just one big turnover, all night long.
“Five turnovers is going to get you beat, I don’t care what level you’re playing at. That will always get you beat.”
Another huge rivalry challenge on Friday
That fact that the Rockets gave the the Big Reds a fight for a good part of the game begs an important question:
Could they do the same, possibly with a much better outcome, this week against another powerful rival?
We will find out on Friday, when the always great Mona Shores Sailors roll into Rocket Stadium for another O-K Green conference battle.
Mona Shores is 3-1 so far this season, with a 35-27 opening night loss to traditional power Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, followed by victories over Portage Northern (33-0), Windsor St. Andrews (49-14) and Grand Rapids Union (57-0).
The Sailors, ranked eighth in the state in Division 2, have owned the Rockets in recent years, just like Muskegon has. They have beaten R-P nine straight years, including last year (48-7) and 2025 (40-0).
The last time R-P beat Mona Shores was in 2016, 39-34.
The Sailors have a lot of talented offensive players to worry about, including dual threat quarterback Owen Terpstra, running back Kevin White, wide receiver Kyle Himes and kick returner Mikey Himes, according to media reports.
White had 265 yards rushing and three touchdowns in Week 3, media reports said.
“I would say Mona Shores is just as good as they have ever been since I have been here,” Kater said. “They are a pretty complete team. Because of the depth they’ve added this year, they don’t have as many guys going both ways.
“Their quarterback is a really good athlete and their running back is committed to Ferris State. When he gets going north and south, it’s hard to bring him down. They have a couple of receivers who are also big contributors, but they will definitely be trying to run the ball.”
So does the coach think his team can finally turn the tables on the Sailors?
Yes, he said, if the Rockets can improve in certain areas, starting with focus.
“One of our core values is to stay in the fight, and we did that for about three and a half quarters last week,” Kater said. “Now we’re going into another rivalry game, and we have to find ways to eliminate the distractions and execute.
“Last week, leading up to the game, we had a number of distractions. On Friday, we had like six starters gone during the school day, with other stuff going on. Just a lot of life, non-football distractions, taking away a lot of their focus. You can’t win games with that many distractions.
“For the Rockets to win it’s going to take attention to detail, with the distractions eliminated.”
Of utmost importance, of course, will be hanging on to the ball so the Rockets can sustain offensive drives. Kater said that issue will definitely be addressed.
“We have to be more conscious about that," he said. "On Tuesdays we do a ball security drill during practice, but after Friday, it’s clear we have to do more. We have to do a better job, as a staff and as athletes, of holding each other accountable for that.”
