MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP - It's always fun to score a lot of points, but there are different ways to go about it.
Some good teams specialize in the “three yards and a cloud of dust” type of offense, using long drives to score points, keep the ball away from opponents and kill the clock.
It’s effective, but some fans find it boring.
The situation is much different at Reeths-Puffer, where it’s risky for fans to look away for more than a minute or two, because they might miss something exciting.
The Rockets’ offense has developed into an exciting quick-strike, big play unit that can score at any given moment.
R-P hopes that ability will come in handy as it pushes for a playoff berth with games against Zeeland East on the road this Friday and Zeeland West at home next week.
Last week against Wyoming, the Rockets scored four of their touchdowns via big plays on a 17-yard run, a 73-yard pass, an 18-yard run and a 22-yard run.
That continued a season-long trend.
In the opener against Grand Haven, the Rockets scored touchdowns on a 66-yard pass and two 51-yard runs.
In Week 2 against Farmington they scored on runs of 32, 30 and 44 yards.
R-P had a big play festival in Week 4 against Holland, scoring on runs of 65, 32, 52 and 57 yards and passes covering 31 and 34 yards.
Against Grand Rapids Union they had 40, 57 and 17-yard touchdown runs and a 26-yard TD pass.
Most of the long rushing touchdowns have come from All-State running back Brody Johnson, but others, including quarterback Antrel Jones, have also used their legs to score from a distance.
The long passing TDs have mostly come from Jones connecting with receivers like Travis Ambrose, Jaxson Whitaker, Bryce Ross and a few others.
The numbers tell the overall story. The Rockets have already scored 257 points in seven games this season, four more than they scored in 10 games last year.
“I think it’s because of the athletes that we have,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater, “Brody is a threat to strike at any time, especially if the blocking at the second and third levels is good. And our wideouts are long, tall targets who are sneaky and can get behind you.
“But we are going to have to create more sustained drives. At times the defense is stuck on the field for too long because the offense strikes too early. It gives other teams more time to get their footing on offense."
The Rockets, 5-2 overall and 3-2 in O-K Green conference play, head into Friday’s game against Zeeland East with a head of steam after two straight convincing victories – 48-7 over Grand Rapids Union and 49-12 over Wyoming.
But winning probably won't be so easy this weel. Zeeland East has always given the Rockets trouble, even last year, when the Chix finished with a 3-6 record. They still played R-P down to the wire, and the Rockets only won 20-18 when ZE failed on a two-point conversion try after a late touchdown.
Zeeland East appears to be much better this season, coming into the game with the same 5-2 record as R-P. Kater said the Rockets need to be particularly wary of ZE quarterback Austin Keur.
“I would say they are definitely improved,” Kater said. “Their quarterback is a special player, the heart and soul of the team. He can do a lot of things running and throwing. Our defense is going to have its hands full.”
A sixth win might be enough to guarantee the Rockets a playoff spot. As of right now, R-P is 24th in playoff points among Division 2 teams in the state. The top 32 qualify for the postseason.
Kater is aware of that, but daily improvement has been the motto for the Rockets for the past month or so, and the coach wants to keep the focus on that.
“The biggest message the last 3-4 weeks has been day-by-day and snap-by-snap,” he said. “At the end of the day the results are the biggest distractions. But our boys do have goals. Reeths-Puffer has never made the playoffs in back-to-back years. We know this is what we have at stake. The opportunity here is to get as many playoff points as possible.”
