GRAND RAPIDS - Before the Reeths-Puffer Rockets can worry about beating any of the tough teams remaining on their schedule, they’re going to have to stop beating themselves.
That’s pretty much what happened on Friday, when R-P traveled to Forest Hills Northern to face the Huskies in the second week of the O-K Green conference season.
Coming off two straight encouraging victories, the Rockets were hoping to do well against what appeared to be a very similar FHN team that came in with the same 2-2 record.
And they might have done well if it weren’t for all of their penalties and turnovers, particularly in the painful second half. R-P only trailed 14-7 at halftime but ended up falling 31-13.
Reeths-Puffer dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in O-K Green conference play. The Rockets will host a very good Byron Center squad next Friday in another conference battle.
“We hate to have to still be learning lessons this late in the season,” said R-P head coach Cody Kater. “We are really immature, we make immature mistakes, and our seniors do as well.
R-P's Sage Secrest (10) runs for some yards. Photo/John Willoughby
“At this point, we’re going to look back and see the script of this season and it’s going to be a lot of what-ifs, a lot of memories of certain moments when we lost momentum.
“We’re playing tight, close games, but we have to find a way to win those games. I'm a little frustrated right now. We have to find a way to clean this up.”
The Rockets committing eight penalties in the contest – starting with the opening kickoff, when they were flagged for being offside – and several of the infractions came at critical times.
One painful example came when FHN led 17-7 early in the fourth quarter and faced a fourth-and-seven at the R-P 21. Obviously a defensive stop would have been a big boost for the Rockets at that moment.
But the Rockets were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Huskies a first down on the R-P 10. Three plays later they scored a touchdown and extended the lead to 24-7.
Reeths-Puffer also had three turnovers, and all came at very bad moments.
R-P's Marvin Moore (12) looks for running room. Photo/John Willoughby
The Rockets trailed 14-7 late in the first half and had the ball on fourth down at the FHN 34. They threw a pass into the end zone that was picked off, ending the drive.
In the third quarter, when they trailed 17-7, R-P quarterback Mason Darke connected with Lukas Johnson on a pair of passes, one covering 31 yards and the other 10, and R-P had the ball at the FHN 38.
But the Rockets lost the ball on a fumble on the very next play.
Later in the third quarter the Reeths-Puffer defense forced the Huskies to punt, but the R-P return man fumbled the catch, giving FHN the ball at the Rocket 24.
That eventually led to the touchdown that made the score 24-7. The bad penalty mentioned above also played a role in that score.
And so it went on a night when the young Rockets, with a lot of underclassmen playing key roles, showed they still have a lot of work to do.
Elliot Schneider (28) and Ben Adams (72) make a tackle. Photo/John Willoughby
Neither team played great, with a total of 12 penalties constantly disrupting the flow of the game.
Forest Hills Northern took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards on 10 plays for the first touchdown of the game. Colton Sawyer finished the drive with a two-yard burst and the extra point made the score 7-0.
Reeths-Puffer responded with a very long scoring drive on its first possession that covered 80 yards, took 15 plays and knocked about seven minutes off the clock.
Sophomore running back Bryce Muskovin played a huge role on the drive, cutting loose for a 25-yard run, then two 10-yard runs, including one that came on a critical fourth-down play.
The Rockets finally scored when Darke rolled to his right, changed directions and found Elliot Schneider in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass.
The extra point tied the score 7-7.
R-P's Lukas Johnson (5) runs with Sam Hillin blocking. Photo/John Willoughby
The Huskies took back the lead on their next possession, going 72 yards on just five plays. Sawyer scored from four yards out and FHN led 14-7 at halftime.
Forest Hills Northern had two touchdown runs called back on penalties on its first possession of the third quarter and finally settled for a 27-yard field goal, making the score 17-7.
Sawyer’s two-yard TD run with 9:17 left in the fourth gave FHN a 24-7 lead.
The Rockets scored their final points when Darke completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 7:03 remaining.
Forest Hills Northern wrapped up the scoring with an impressive 30-yard touchdown run by Sawyer with 2:57 left on the clock.
Darke had a pretty good passing night for the Rockets, completed 12 of 18 throws for 160 yards and one touchdown, along with the interception.
R-P's Bryce Muskovin (20) eludes a tackler. Photo/John Willoughby
Muskovin rushed for 101 yards on 10 carries, his third straight game of gaining at least 100 yards.
Marvin Moore caught five passes for 62 yards while Johnson had four receptions for 68.
Schneider led the R-P defense with eight tackles – including three for losses – and one assist. Sage Secrest had six tackles and three assists.
Sawyer, who was a major problem for the Rockets all night, totaled 154 yards on 26 carries with four touchdowns.