MUSKEGON — Despite being ravaged by injuries, Reeths-Puffer played three exceptional quarters Friday night against Division 2 third-ranked Byron Center. Unfortunately, in the fourth, the Bulldogs ripped off three straight touchdowns to turn back the Rockets' upset bid, 42-28.
Maybe the biggest play of the game wasn't a play at all, but a penalty. With the game tied at 28, Sage Secrest, who played quarterback while Mason Darke dealt with Achillies tendinitis, lofted a nice pass to Ethan Muskovin that would've moved R-P close to Byron Center territory. The big gain was called back on a personal foul penalty.
"That was one of the bigger plays of the night," R-P coach Cody Kater said. "We could have flipped the field there, punted, done all the great things (we were doing), and then we gave them help."
In addition to Darke's injury, starting running back Bryce Muskovin was far less than 100 percent with an ankle injury. On top of that, Marvin Moore went down with a shoulder injury (though not before a key kickoff return touchdown) and was taken to the hospital, Kater said, and three defensive starters missed much of the week of preparation due to illness, though they all played Friday.
That thrust much of the game onto Secrest, a linebacker who had never played quarterback at this level before.
No matter; Secrest made two of the biggest plays of the game, ripping off a 57-yard touchdown run on a keeper to respond to Byron Center's first score and adding a 60-yard score to tie the game again at 21 in the third quarter.
"Our team freaking believes in him, and we believe in him," Kater said. "He played his heart out. You don't see a whole lot of middle linebacker-quarterback combinations at the Division 2 level."
R-P rode big plays to the lead, including Secrest's two runs and Moore's kickoff return, which ensured the Bulldogs would be haunted by a personal foul penalty they committed on the extra point prior to it.
After Secrest tied the score at 21, R-P (2-4, 1-2 O-K Green Conference) forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The Rockets were forced into fourth-and-goal, where they reached into a bag of tricks and had Bryce Muskovin throw a halfback pass touchdown to Sam Hillin. It put R-P ahead, but it was the last time the Rockets scored.
"You've got to continue to show up and put the work in day in and day out and win the snap, and that's out of every practice and that's on film and that's in the weight room," Kater said. "That's been our mantra this week amid a lot of adversity. I love the way that these guys hung on and connected and played the game of football tonight."
Even with all the Rockets dealt with, they probably still would have won the game but for the superhuman efforts of Bulldog quarterback Landon Tungate, who time after time extended plays and made things happen. He ran for a 44-yard go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter - forcing several missed tackles along the way. He also barely got the ball in theend zone on a fourth-and-goal keeper in the third, made two clutch third-down touchdown throws in the fourth, and provided the final flourish with a 36-yard score with 1:45 to go.
There was much to be proud of, and the Rocket coaches were. At the same time, Kater knows there are no points for trying, and as he pointed out to the team, R-P must win two of its final three games to make the playoffs. That's a tall task when the next two games are against Muskegon and Mona Shores.
"We weren't proud of ourselves last week," Kater said. "We weren't proud of ourselves in week one, or week two, just because of effort and energy and focus. I felt like we showed that a little bit more today. We've just got to find a way to do it for four quarters.
"I think (Byron Center) is a great program, great coaching staff. I don't know if that's their ceiling or not, but we know that we have a lot more to give."
