MUSKEGON TWP. - Tuesday’s Reeths-Puffer-Coopersville lacrosse matchup was going to get finished a lot sooner than expected, anyway.
That’s because the surging Rockets had just taken an impressive 12-0 lead on a goal by Kyler Brainard with 7:12 left in the third quarter.
According to the rules, a 12-goal spread automatically triggers a running clock to get runaway games over with quickly.
Just at that moment, however, lightning was spotted in the distance, which automatically means a 30-minute game delay.
R-P's John McNally (26). Photo/Jeremy Clark
Instead of waiting around, however, the coaches agreed to call it a night, and the Rockets walked off with their sixth straight victory.
Carson Cooper led R-P with five goals in the short game while Brainard added three.
The irony was obvious after the game, to anyone who stopped and thought about it.
A year ago the Rockets were one of those teams that fell way behind in some ugly running clock games.
Last spring they finished 4-12 and lost six games by at least 12 goals. 
R-P's JT Fansler (4) and Carson Cooper (10). Photo/Jeremy Clark
Now Reeths-Puffer is 6-3 overall and a perfect 5-0 in the O-K Green Tier 3 standings, with five conference games left to go.
If the Rockets keep this up, they could walk away with a conference championship, something that seemed light years away last spring.
One big difference this season is experience, which has led to confidence. They have a roster full of seasoned seniors who have been playing great lacrosse since losing their first three games.
Some might argue that the Rockets are doing better because they dropped down a level in the O-K conference this year, from Tier 2 to Tier 3, but Saturday’s victory over Tier 2 power Mona Shores nullifies that point.
R-P's Brooks Johnson (24). Photo/Jeremy Clark
Any way you slice it, R-P is having a great bounce-back season, with a lot of exciting possibilities on the horizon in the next few weeks.
“It’s a lot of the same kids, but they’ve matured a lot,” said R-P head coach Josh Rabidoux, who was an assistant coach last year during the painful season. “The decision making is better, the passing is more efficient, even simple things like possessing the ball and maintaining their composure weren’t so good last year because they were so young.
"This year we have 17 seniors, 17 guys who understand the gravity of each situation out there.”
Rabidoux said he could feel the difference in the team from the first practice of the preseason, but he doesn’t think the players really started to feel it until the second game, when they lost 9-8 to a very good Tier 2 Zeeland West squad.
“Zeeland was a great team we competed against for almost a full game,” the coach said. “It all started after that game. They could see it in that game – we played a really good team and we hung with them.”
R-P's Jack Bahorski (3). Photo/Jeremy Clark
The Rockets came out with their offense clicking on Tuesday, scoring six first quarter goals in rapid succession.
The tallies came from Cooper with 11:16 remaining in the quarter, followed by two from Brainard (10:05 and 9:38), two more by Cooper (8:37 and 6:49) and Cohen Beck (6:03).
R-P added two more goals within the first two minutes of the second quarter, from Cooper and JT Fansler, to take an 8-0 lead.
Things slowed down for a while then, but the Rockets added two more goals in the last two minutes of the half, from Beck and Brooks Johnson, and led 10-0 at halftime.
R-P's Avery Wolfe-Sabo (19). Photo/Jeremy Clark
Cooper and Brainard scored in the third quarter before the lightning sighting ended the night.
The Rockets will play two important conference road games over the next few days – Thursday at Kenowa Hills and Saturday at Northview.
Coach Rabidoux said Kenowa Hills could be a very big challenge, despite the fact that the Rockets beat them 14-6 in the first conference game of the season.
“They are kind of a rapidly improving team that we’ve had our eyes on,” he said. “They may come with some fire in their bellies and be ready to get back at us, but we’re prepared for it.”