by TIM COOPER

After three weeks of practice under the hot August sun, the Rockford Rams walked onto the field in front of a large crowd for their opening game August 27, at the Ted Carlson Memorial Stadium. Rockford has opened each of the last three seasons against the Davison Cardinals, and this year was the same. 

Rams celebrate after their 27-10 victory over Davison on Friday. Steve Mette connects on the first of his two field goals. photo by JIM COOPER

Davison, having won the coin toss, elected to receive the opening kickoff. Steve Mette’s kick would go through the end zone, forcing Davison to start their first drive on their own 20 yard line. Four plays later, Davison would be forced to punt the ball to the Rams, who would start their first drive just inside Davison’s territory, at the 46 yard line. The Cardinals’ defense would limit Rockford to 16 yards on their first possession, forcing a 46 yard field goal attempt by Steve Mette. Mette split the uprights, giving the Rams an early 3-0 lead.

The Rams second possession started from their own 20, after a Davison punt went into the end zone. On the first of play of the possession, Rockford quarterback Mark LaPrairie, hit wide receiver Neil VanderLaan with a perfect pass down the left sideline. 75 yards later, VanderLaan was standing alone in the end zone.

Davison, trailing by ten, retaliated with a  30 yard field goal to complete their following drive.

Rockford countered with a 40 yard field goal by Mette after Davison turned the ball over on their own 17, giving the Rams a 13-3 lead midway through the second quarter. Again, the Rockford defense shut Davison down, forcing them to punt. The Rams’ final possession of the first half ended with a 12 yard LaPrairie pass to Zach Schmuck, putting Rockford ahead by 17 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.

Colin Remtema and Andrew Cunningham team up to sack Thompson. photo by JIM COOPER

Davison’s final drive saw quarterback Jake Thompson connect with Jacob Jacobs, for an 80 yard gain, placing the ball inside the Rockford five. Four plays later, Brandon Cooper plunged into the end zone with seconds left in the half, making the score 20-10.

Rockford’s final score of the evening came when Nate Sanders broke off tackle for seven yards into over the goal line, making the final score 27-10.

Following the game, coach Ralph Munger said, “This was a tough ball game. We played like it was our first game. We need to be more consistent. Once we get that, we will be a better team.” 

“We got manhandled [on the line] tonight. The offensive line needs to be more physical.”

Munger went on to say, “Defensively, we made things happen.”

The Rams were dealt a blow in the second quarter, when running back Nick Smythe suffered a potentially season ending injury. Munger commented, “I feel just awful about Nick. This could be a big loss for us as a team.”

Rockford had 103 yards on the ground, with Nate Sanders leading all rushers with 60 yards on nine carries. Mark LaPrairie went 12 for 22, with 158 yards in the air. LaPrairie also had two touchdown passes.

On September 2nd, the Rams will travel down I-96 for a rare Thursday night game against Holt.

The Rockford Youth Rugby team has just completed its sixth season.

At the end of 2010 spring rugby season, most would see a lackluster season. The boys’ season ended with a 3-5 record and loss in the quarterfinals, and the ladies’ ended with a 1-7 record.

The boys rugby team has 50 players and a season record of 3-5.

With a closer look at the teams, you would see a bright future for the Rams. The boys team had 50 players with nearly 70 percent being sophomores and freshmen, including sophomore Trevor Alferink (Overall and Forward MVP), sophomore Brady Gent (Backs MVP), and junior Zach Nelson “Mr. Rugby.” During the summer break, more than 20 players are continuing their rugby education with Rugby 7’s tournaments in State Games of Michigan and Hard Rock 7’s.

The ladies had 30 players with 60 percent being sophomores and freshmen. The speed and tackling ability of these young Lady Rams will be seen for years to come. Being a new sport and the only contact sport for high school ladies, it has taken two years for the program to develop. You can expect big things from this team in the next year.

The girls rugby team has 30 players and a season record of 1-7.

Feeding both of the programs is the Rockford Youth Rugby (RYR). RYR has just completed its sixth season and helped Forest Hills start their program this year. RYR’s goal is to have everyone learn traditions of this nearly 200-year-old game: everyone plays, everyone is involved, play hard for your team, and the fellowship of both teams after the game. In this age of “me” or “the star” and lack of respect for the players, referees or the game itself, rugby has laws mandating respect for the opposing players and the referee (“sir”), and a player can actually be penalized and/or sent off for disrespect and/or showboating.

The Rams had eight second- and third-graders play coed/non-contact flag, and 14 fourth- and fifth-graders play advanced coed/non-contact flag rugby. The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade boys play full contact and had combined with the Forest Hills team to defeat Grandville 5-0 in Rockford and 17-5 in a very wet Grandville pitch. More information can be found at www.ramrugby.net.

The Rams were led by sophomore Mark Pearson, who finished with the best score in the tournament with a 43 on the challenging narrow fairways at GHGC. Freshman Seth Wells shot a 44, Sam Barnard 46, Justin Ullrey 46, Parker Derks 46, and David Dominiak 49.

On the year, Coach Scott Kruisenga’s team finished with an impressive 49-11 record.

When asked to summarize the season, Coach Kruisenga said, “More important than the wins/losses this year were the attitudes and work ethic of the team. Being able to balance fun and hard work is challenging for many freshmen and sophomores, but these boys were able to handle it and succeeded in becoming the JV conference champs. They maintained a conference record of 29-1 and won the preseason, midseason and postseason championships. I’m proud of you, boys, and good luck in striving for varsity status.”

Sophomore Jake Stephan, who led the team with an average score of 39.6 per nine holes, earned some valuable varsity experience at times throughout the season by virtue of his outstanding play. While playing at the JV level, nine of his 13 rounds were in the 30s, including a one-over-par 36 on April 22.

Completing the JV roster this season were sophomores David Anderson and Justin Wustman, and freshman Matt Dickinson.

Pictured are (front row, l–r) Ally Fought, Hannah Rice, Renee Ringler, Leasha Novak, Olivia Weatherhead; (middle) Mara Egeler, Karlee Tykosky, Kathryn Pilczuk, Bethany Dean, Tara Hogue, Shelby DeClercq, Head Coach Frank Tykosky; (back) Coach Deb Hogue, Coach Tom Dean and Coach Eric Egeler.

The Rockford Raptors team of (kneeling, l–r) Andrew Searl, Matt DiLeo, Jon Stewart, Bobby Wilson, David Sokol; (standing) Kory Young, Brent Showers, Ryan Jerrils, Jimmy Scales, Andy Woodruff; and (not pictured) Reid Kelley celebrate their victory in the USSSA Lakeside Challenge.

For the season, the Raptors have compiled a 23-5-3 record and now prepare for a trip to Omaha, Neb., where they will compete in the Triple Crown Sumpbusters Tournament on June 24-28. This tournament is held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I college world series.

The Lady Rams varsity softball team earns a district championship victory.

Tykosky had led off the inning with a double to the gap in left center. Then freshman Isabelle Mudgett’s hard grounder up the middle, which was fielded nicely by the shortstop, allowed Tykosky to scamper to third base as the throw went to first. Bettig then came through in the clutch with the winning ground ball on a 1-0 count, setting off a celebration for the Rams.

The win over Northview was extra special since the Wildcats had knocked the Rams out of the tournament in 2009 and had also defeated Rockford in the Northview Tournament earlier this year. As they normally do, Northview played incredible defense in this game, with two stellar catches in the outfield on hits that looked destined for extra bases. Tricia Graham was as strong as ever on the mound for Rockford, limiting Northview to just three singles, of which only one left the infield. Graham retired the last 13 batters she faced in order, striking out 14 and walking none in the contest.

The Rams then were pitted against Greenville in the finals, who had beaten Kenowa Hills earlier on Saturday to reach the championship game. In the finals, Graham again allowed just three hits, and this time she struck out 17 batters in a mercy-rule-shortened six-inning game, as she shut out the Yellow Jackets 14-0.

Offensively for the Rams, contributions came from everywhere. Graham led the charge herself with a four-for-four performance. Lauren Pasciak and Morgan Ruchty each scored twice for Rockford, as did Alli Hickox, who added three RBIs as well. Peyton Wells scored three times and drove in one run, and Molly O’Rourke had a big two-run double to the gap in right-center to cap off a big six-run rally for the Rams in the sixth inning. Leah Oliver scored the final run of the contest on O’Rourke’s hit, and Graham and her defense took care of business from there to secure the district championship.

The Rams will now advance to regional play Saturday at Hudsonville. They will play the winner of the Lowell district tournament. In the other half of the bracket at regionals, Hudsonville will play the winner of the Reeths-Puffer district.

Rockford softball seniors (front row, l–r) Morgan Ruchty, Haley Pattok, Karli Showers and Lauren Pasciak are surrounded by their teammates and coaches.

It was Senior Night, and the Rams’ senior athletes celebrated their final games on the Rockford High School varsity field in fine style. Senior centerfielder Lauren Pasciak, who will play collegiate softball at Cornerstone University, wasted no time getting things started for Rockford as she smacked a triple over the head of the centerfielder and scored on a sacrifice fly by Peyton Wells to stake the Rams to an early lead. Pasciak’s run would have been enough for junior pitcher Tricia Graham, who blanked Caledonia, allowing just three hits while striking out 16.

In doing so, Graham reached a milestone by notching the 1,000th strikeout of her brilliant career. No other Rockford pitcher has ever reached this total, and she still has more than a full season left to add to her record.

Pasciak added some insurance later in the game with a two-run single. Junior Katie Chapin had a big game with two sharp singles, which led to two more runs in the 6-0 win.

In game two, the Rams jumped all over the Scots, racking up 13 hits in a mercy-rule-shortened five-inning game. Junior shortstop Alli Hickox led the onslaught with three hits, three runs batted in, and two runs scored. Fellow junior infielder Kayla Tykosky drove in two more with two hits, including a triple.

The seniors had another strong game in their home finale. Morgan Ruchty had another nice game with two hits, and Haley Pattok ripped a double down the left field line in the last home high school at-bat. Pattok will be playing her college ball at Davenport University. Senior catcher Karli Showers, bound for Grand Rapids Community College’s softball program in the fall, provided stellar defense once again, gunning down the only runner who attempted to steal

a base against her. Pasciak patrolled center field with her normal authority. It was a great day for the Rams,who finished the regular season with a 29-8 record.