MUSKEGON TOWSHIP - Reeths-Puffer fans – and sports fans throughout the area, actually – know them for their impressive basketball exploits.
Travis Ambrose and Jaxson Whitaker have been the leading scorers for R-P, and two of the top prep basketball players in West Michigan, for the past two seasons.
Last year Whitaker, a three-point specialist, averaged 19 points per game and set new school records for triples in a career (168) and in a single game (9).
Ambrose, a talented post player, averaged 16.8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
Both are closing in on the 1,000-point mark for their varsity careers, and both have been receiving their share of interest from college basketball programs.
Jaxson Whitaker, left, and Travis Ambrose during their sophomore basketball season.
With one more winter of high school basketball ahead of them, and seemingly bright futures at the collegiate level, few would have guessed that Ambrose and Whitaker would spend the fall of their senior year playing varsity football.
But that’s exactly what they are doing.
They’ve been out on the hot practice field with the Rockets all summer and are slated to play significant roles for the R-P offense this season.
Whitaker will be a wide receiver for the Rockets while Ambrose will see time at wideout and tight end. The R-P passing game is bound to benefit, because they are both great athletes who excel at pretty much everything they do.
The two standouts are not completely new to high school football. They were on the R-P varsity in 2021 as sophomores, and saw some playing time, but stepped away from the team last season.
Ambrose is a scoring and rebounding machine for the Rockets.
They watched from the student section last fall as the Rocket football team had a turnaround season, posting a 6-4 record and making the state playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The guys on the football team were obviously enjoying themselves, and Ambrose and Whitaker wanted in on the fun.
“We played our sophomore year and didn’t have the best experience,” said Ambrose, who currently checks in at 6 foot, 7 inches. “But last year we saw what sort of brotherhood they had with Coach (Cody) Kater coming in and the new coaching staff. We felt like we were missing out on that brotherhood and some fun football.”
“A lot of my friends are playing, I heard it was a great experience, and I didn’t want to regret not playing my senior year,” Whitaker said. “We’re having a great time out here so far.”
Coach Kater, in his second season with the Rockets, said Ambrose and Whitaker’s reconnection with the football team was a two-way street.
Whitaker set new school records last season for 3-pointers in a career and a single game.
“We kind of recruited them a little bit, and they were obviously interested as the season went on last fall,” the coach said. “Then they saw how excited their friends were about this season. They are competitors. They love Reeths-Puffer, they want to help grow the R-P brand, and those things combined into one. These guys just want to compete in everything.”
There will obviously be a learning curve for the two new receivers, because they’ve been away from the sport for two years, and as sophomores they played for different coaches who had a different system.
Ambrose and Whitaker both say they are learning on the go, and credit their coaches and teammates for helping them adjust.
“We have whole new concepts and plays to learn,” Ambrose said. “The coaches are very helpful, and the other guys have been great about teaching me what to do. They are helping me get better.”
“I’m learning a lot more than I did my sophomore year,” Whitaker said. “That year I just tried to play football. Now I’m learning how to block better and play better all-around football.”
Whitaker and Ambrose did well in tennis last fall, despite never playing the game before.
Kater said the two are among those competing for starting spots on offense, which is not surprising.
They may not have a ton of varsity football experience, but both seem to adjust to new athletic challenges with ease.
Ambrose and Whitaker demonstrated how well they could do in unfamiliar territory last fall, when they joined the R-P boys tennis team, played together at No. 2 doubles and did very well, despite having no experience in the sport.
As receivers, they will help fill the void left by standout wide receiver Tayte Vanderleest, who graduated in June and now plays football at Central Michigan University.
“They are picking it up,” Kater said. “They are starting to get into it and are becoming more interested in the game. They are still pretty new to this, but they are starting to know the playbook and are rising to the challenge. I think they are going to be major contributors to our team as the season goes by.
“More importantly they are high character kids. They are going to helps us in the locker room as we create our identify as a team."
R-P football players take a break to drink water during workouts on Wednesday.
Both Ambrose and Whitaker admit that football workouts in the summer heat have been strenuous – but it’s nothing they can’t handle.
“It’s different outside in the heat, but I think it’s pretty close (to basketball) conditioning-wise,” Whitaker said. “In the heat it just feels like a lot more work.”
“We were both at an Olympic development camp for basketball in Iowa, and I would say this is about half of what that was,” Ambrose added.
They both dismiss the obvious question most people would have – with very promising basketball futures ahead, aren’t they wary of football injuries?
“You can get injured doing anything,” Whitaker said. “As long as I’m having fun I’m not going to worry.”
