MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – The scoreboard said 40-0 on Friday night as the Reeths-Puffer football team closed out the home portion of its schedule with a loss to undefeated Mona Shores.
But the scoreboard did not show how much of a life victory that R-P football has been for senior JaVon Plummer, or how much he will miss playing with his teammates at Rocket Stadium.
Plummer secured his eighth sack of the season in the loss, but his football story goes much deeper than statistics. He reflected on that in the moments after the game, as he processed the fact that he would never play a home game at Reeths-Puffer again.
Plummer is a school of choice kid who grew up with his grandmother and mother in the Muskegon Heights area.
R-P's JaVon Plummer (52) tries to fight off a block. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“They mean a lot,” Plummer said about the women who raised him. “My grandmother means everything to me. She’s my rock. She’s the reason I went to Puffer, and she still helps me. She’ll help me whether it’s school, work or house related. She’s always there and she's my number one. Her and my mom mean everything to me, and my mom works all the time to help.”
For Plummer, football has provided another sense of family, as well as male mentors like R-P head coach Cody Kater.
“This program means a lot to me,” he said. “It has taught me things as a boy and as a man. It’s taught me family things and a lot about myself. It taught me what a real brotherhood is about. At the end of the day, if you’re not playing for your brother, then who is it you’re playing for?
“Even though Coach Kater came during my sophomore year, I still trusted him from day one. He’s helped me grow. Whatever that man says - if it’s jump off a bridge - I’m going to jump off a bridge. He’s my boy and he’s the one who has seen me change into the man I am now. He helped me grow and change.”
Plummer shows the frustration of a long night against Mona Shores. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Coach Kater said Plummer has come a long way in the maturity department.
“He’s one of the guys who has grown the most in this program,” he said. “You talk about football saving a life and growing a person, he’s really shown that within the last year. He had a sack again tonight, but his success is because of the things he’s shown off the field, in terms of character growth and values.”
Leaving the home field for the final time on Friday was painful for Plummer, partlcularly after a painful loss.
“I feel like I could’ve done better and left more on the field,” he said. “I didn’t play the best I could’ve played. If I could’ve died on the field, I would’ve. That’s the honest truth. I feel like I could have poured out a little more. But I feel like overall we fought.”
R-P quarterback Mason Darke lets a pass fly. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Plummer still has one personal goal he will try to hit next week, when the Rockets close out the season with a game at Forest Hills Eastern. He wants to reach 10 quarterback sacks in a season, which would put him somewhere among R-P’s career leaders.
“I want to remember most the class of 2025,” he said. “I don’t ever want to forget the brothers I’ve grown up with. And I don’t want people to forget my name. I want to make sure I put myself in the top five. I’m ahead of the guy from 1992 with six sacks. But I need to get 10. That was my goal from day one this season.”
Plummer and his teammates gave everything they had against the powerful Sailors on Friday, but with five starters out with injuries, they faced a tall task.
Mona Shores scored on a 28-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Pittman in the first quarter and a 19-yard touchdown run by Tyrese McCarvey-Hill in the second quarter.
R-P seniors Mari Davis (4) and Sage Secrest (10) make a tackle. Photo/Jeremy Clark
In the third quarter, a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pittman to Tomarion Steward and a five-yard touchdown run by James Starr made the score 26-0.
In the fourth quarter, Pittman had a three-yard touchdown run while Steward returned an interception 98 yards to make the final score 40-0.
R-P quarterback Mason Darke completed 14 passes for 122 yards while Sage Secrest had 22 carries for 96 yards.
Lukas Johnson had 67 yards on five receptions while also leading the defense with five tackles.
“We’re thin,” Kater said about his injury-depleted roster. “We played well for a half, but then it’s hard to make adjustments when you have five starters out. We’re trying to find ways to move the ball. But it is what it is and we’re going to continue to grow.”