MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – Some people may be surprised to know that the Reeths-Puffer football team, as good as it is this season, has a lot of new faces playing key roles and making big contributions.
Two of those new guys – wide receivers Jaxson Whitaker and Travis Ambrose – are well known as R-P basketball standouts, but they did not play football last season and did not bring a lot of experience when they decided to join the team as seniors.
But the two hoop specialists have been performing well all season, including Friday, when they each had a touchdown catch in the Rockets’ 49-12 victory Wyoming on a rainy Homecoming night.
Another guy who didn’t play much last year, senior quarterback Antrel Jones, also continued his recent strong play by throwing for 98 yards and two touchdowns and running in another TD.
R-P's Bryce Ross (2) races past a Wyoming defender. Photo/Jeremy Clark
R-P head coach Cody Kater has been very pleased with the new recruits and what they have brought to the Rockets, who improved to 5-2 overall on the season and 3-2 in O-K Green conference play.
“There are a lot of guys who are pretty green but really athletic,” Kater said. “We have three new guys up front, our quarterback didn’t play, and our two wide receivers played basketball and not football. We have a lot of really athletic guys who are really taking to coaching and improving as the season goes on.”
One guy who is not new to the team, senior standout running back Brody Johnson, had another great game, totaling 160 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.
“The offense executed well,” said Kater, whose team scored on all but one drive in the first half. “They (Wyoming) threw some different things that we didn’t prepare for, but we were able to execute and still move the ball down the field.”
R-P quarterback Antrel Jones hands off to Kameron Coleman (4). Photo/Jeremy Clark
Johnson got the scoring started on the fourth play of the game with a 24-yard touchdown run, and the PAT kick put Reeths-Puffer ahead 7-0 with 10:57 still left in the opening quarter.
Johnson then broke loose for a 17-yard touchdown run on the second R-P possession, extending the lead to 14-0 with 4:31 left in the opening quarter.
After Wyoming burned a lot of clock with a 14-play drive that produced no points, Jones found Whitaker on a 73-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the ensuing R-P possession to make the score 21-0 with 6:56 left before half.
Wyoming closed out the first half with a 13-play scoring drive that made the score 21-6 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Jones scored on a five-yard touchdown run to give the Rockets a 28-6 lead with 7:09 remaining.
Ross (2) puts a hit on a Wyoming ball carrier while Caiden Bolduc (8) closes in on the play. Photo/Jeremy Clark
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jones found Ambrose with a four-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 35-6 before a 30-minute lightning delay forced the teams to their respective locker rooms.
After the delay, Wyoming scored to cut the Rocket lead to 35-12.
On the final two Rocket possessions, Johnson scored on a 17-yard touchdown run while senior Stephen Salazar III scored on a 22-yard run. The game ended with 2:22 remaining on the clock due to more lightning.
The Rockets will travel to play Zeeland East next week before returning home in Week 9 to face Zeeland West.
