MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP - Everyone is calling next weekend's Reeths-Puffer-Mona Shores first-round playoff football game a rematch.
But in some ways it could be a much different matchup, because it will be a more experienced and mature R-P squad going against the Sailors, likely on Friday night at Mona Shores.
The Rockets agree that one big key will be to focus on the task at hand, and not all the hype about two cross-town rivals going head-to-head again.
“It will be an emotional game, but I hope we learned the last time from how emotional we were,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater. “We’re going to do our best to just keep this about football.”
The Rockets gathered at Northside Pub on Sunday night to watch the MHSAA Selection Sunday Show and learn who their first-round playoff opponent would be.
R-P quarterback Antrel Jones
Nobody was surprised to see that it was Mona Shores, and that Muskegon and Forest Hills Northern are matched up on the other side of the bracket.
The winner of the two games will play a week later for the district title.
The Rockets don’t feel like they were the best version of themselves in their first game against Mona Shores, back on Sept. 8.
They committed four turnovers, including one at the Mona Shores one-yard line and one on a dropped punt after a defensive stop. Two of those turnovers led to Mona Shores touchdowns.
Reeths-Puffer moved the ball well at times against the Sailor defense, but struggled to finish drives off with points.
The result was a 28-10 loss on the same field where the two teams will play again this weekend.
R-P linebacker Caiden Bolduc
The Rockets say they were too fired up the first time around, too focused on the rivalry aspect, and lost track of the part about playing sound football.
Since then, the coaches have focused on convincing the players that their main business is right at home, working to address weaknesses and make themselves the best team they can be, regardless of who they play on any given week.
That strategy has been successful. The Rockets are 5-1 since the loss to Mona Shores, and played pretty well in their other loss, to Muskegon.
Senior quarterback Antrel Jones said the mentality against Mona Shores will be a lot different this time around.
“Everything in that game was off,” Jones said. “We made it more than what it was. We feel like now we’re going in with a different outlook and a different mentality.
“We were just too amped up. It was just the environment at the time. We had never been in a situation like that, and everybody was looking at us and depending on us. We fed into the noise and let it get to us.”
R-P head coach Cody Kater
Senior linebacker Caiden Bolduc echoed that sentiment.
“That was by far our worst game,” Bolduc said. “For a lot of the guys, that was their first big game, and now they’ve got that out of their system. This is more business-oriented now. I’m going to go home and watch film.”
While controlling their emotions a bit more would work to their advantage, the Rockets are still excited about the chance to gain some revenge and earn a spot in the district finals.
They believe they are a much better team than they were in the third week of the season.
“The last time we played them we were still breaking in seven new starters on offense and eight on defense, and now they have more games under their belts,” Kater said. “And we have really preached the day-by=day, quarter-by-quarter thing, and now we find ourselves in a pretty good spot to compete at a higher level.
R-P's Brody Johnson (24) fights for yards in the first R-P-Mona Shores game in September.
“I would hope that we have grown, with the amount of time we’ve put into it, and I I think we have. But I think (Mona Shores) has as well. We know it’s not going to be an easy task.”
Jones said he’s eager to play the Sailors again, now that six weeks have gone by and a lot of progress has bene made.
“It’s always a blessing to get the chance to get back at a team, and this is a perfect time for this to happen,” Jones added. “We’ve really been coming together as a team. We always try to get better than last week. It’s like the pieces of a puzzle, and it’s been coming together really well.”
Bolduc said he really didn’t care who the Rockets drew in the first round of the playoffs – but he welcomes the opportunity for a little payback.
“We were either going to go north or play Shores, and we got Shores,” he said. “I was fine with either or, but now we will get a shot at redemption, and normally you don’t get a second chance.”
