ADA TWP. — The Reeths-Puffer football team has had a lot to celebrate this season.
Playing under first-year head coach Cody Kater, the Rockets finished with a 6-4 record, doubled their 2021 win total and qualified for the MHSAA playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, that postseason journey ended after one game. Reeths-Puffer fell 32-6 to unbeaten Forest Hills Central on Friday night in the opening round of the Division 2 playoffs.
Reeths-Puffer trailed just 10-6 at halftime, but couldn’t find sustained success on offense against a Ranger defense that allowed just 5.6 points per game in the regular season.
“The ball didn’t roll our way,” Kater said after the game. “I think there’s a lot of things on tape that we’re going to be able to correct and improve upon, it just stinks that we’re not going to be able to get back together on Monday and improve those things.”
Brooks Johnson (3) and Carson Harwood (7) make a defensive stop for Reeths-Puffer.
Despite the loss, the 2022 season will go down as a successful one for the Reeths-Puffer program. The team won six games, its most since 2013, and made the playoffs for the first time since that year, other than the 2020 COVID year when all teams qualified.
“I think that’s something the community can be proud of and something that we want to create into a norm,” Kater said. “This sucks right now, but at the end of the day, life is good here at Reeths-Puffer.
“Our boys love one another, they love the coaches and I think they got to experience this year how every boy should feel at the end of the game. To just feel prideful to wear their school colors across their chest and walk around their community knowing that we represented it the right way.”
Kater credited this year’s seniors for helping to lay a foundation for the program moving forward.
“Our junior class can learn a lot from what these seniors did,” he said. “When January, February rolled around, (the seniors) did a lot of things that we asked them to do and they performed up to their ability. They were able to lay this foundation down. We’re still hunting for that playoff victory. They know that they moved us in the right direction to be able to accomplish that.
Reeths-Puffer quarterback Brady Ross looks for an open receiver.
“It’s hard to take right now, but these seniors set a new tradition of practice habits, a new tradition of offseason habits that got them here. That piece of it is important for us to take away.”
The Rangers opened the scoring on a two-yard touchdown run by Justin Osterhouse with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter and led 7-0 after one.
Reeths-Puffer responded on its following drive with its lone score of the night. Tayte Vanderleest found the end zone from eight yards out, but the extra point was blocked, leaving the score 7-6 with 9:29 left in the first half.
Forest Hills Central added three points before halftime on a 36-yard field goal by Andrew Novay as time expired in the second quarter.
Rocket defenders Brooks Johnson (3), Tyviea Williams (30) and Omillion Wyrick (80) prepare for a play.
The Rangers extended the lead with another two-yard TD run by Osterhouse in the third quarter to lead 18-6 heading to the fourth. Mason McDonald (six yards) and JT Hartman (28 yards) added rushing scores in the fourth quarter for FHC.
Reeths-Puffer’s offense had a punt, two turnovers on downs and two interceptions on five second-half drives.
R-P quarterback Brady Ross had 84 rushing yards and 47 passing yards to lead the offense. Brody Johnson rushed for 48 yards for the Rockets. Caiden Bolduc had a 20-yard catch to lead R-P receivers.