FOOTBALL: Rockford stuns top-ranked Clarkston
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CLARKSTON — Rockford’s storied football program added another big chapter to its text Saturday afternoon.
The seventh-ranked Rams made the trek across state to face top-ranked Clarkston in a Division 1 regional final. Rockford took advantage of multiple Clarkston miscues and held on for a 25-14 triumph to advance from the Elite Eight into the Final Four for the second straight year.
The Rams will advance to the state semifinals Nov. 17 against Novi Detroit Catholic Central (8-4), the same team that defeated Rockford in the semifinals last season. Clarkston finishes the season 11-1 and two wins shy of playing in its first state championship game.
A couple of big touchdown runs of 50-plus yards and several big stops helped propel Rockford past Clarkston in the first-ever meeting between the two perennial powers that are also two of Michigan’s top 10 largest schools enrollment-wise.
DOWN-AND-OUT: Clarkston’s Cyree Merritt and the Wolves were ousted by Rockford Saturday in the Division 1 regional finals. Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
It all boiled down to making big plays on both sides of the football — and Rockford made plenty of them.
Clarkston was missing Illinois-bound lineman Jessie Chadwell, missed two field goals and was picked off twice in the red zone in suffering its first and only loss of the season after holding down the No. 1 spot since midway through the regular season.
“Their defense is really good,” admitted Clarkston coach Kurt Richardson. “(KC Zenner and Brent Showers) are players. They really hurt us. Rockford is the first team to stuff us all season. My hats off to their defense.”
Rockford’s defense limited Clarkston All-State running back Ian Eriksen to 113 yards on 22 carries and nullified Clarkston’s large offensive line.
“We knew what they were going to do and I thought we did a good job of taking them out of their comfort zone and making them pass a lot more,” said Rockford coach Ralph Munger. “We did a good job containing Eriksen. That was one of our main focuses. We saw him on film and what he is capable of doing.”
Rockford never trailed and withstood Clarkston on several long drives. The Wolves, who were trying to reach the semifinals for the second time in four years, saw Shane Hynes hit the uprights on a 52-yard field goal and a botched snap again caused Hynes to hit the uprights on a 32-yarder in the third quarter. Sophomore quarterback DJ Zezula was picked off just in front of the goal line and again on the Rockford 19 in the second half, halting what could have been more points on the board.
“We made the stops when we had to,” said Munger. “I don’t care who they lined up (against). We had to compete against them today and I thought our kids did a tremendous job. Our defense came up big the whole game.”
A missed extra point following a 6-yard touchdown run by Connor Darby left Rockford (10-2) with a 6-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first quarter.
On their next possession, the Rams were pinned back on their own 3, only to see Scott Kaule catch a short pass from Kyle Short and race 97 yards for the score and a commanding 13-0 lead with 6:19 still left in the second quarter.
Clarkston tried to play catch up from that point.
The Wolves finally got on the scoreboard with 28.2 points left in the first half when Zezula connected with Tim Cason on a 32-yard fade pass in the end zone. Clarkston nearly scored again later in the frame after scooping up a Rockford fumble on the kickoff. Hynes’ field goal attempt from 21 yards out was off the mark with 1.8 seconds left.
Sam Reinke put Rockford up 19-7 with 8:30 remaining in the third quarter with a 29-yard touchdown sprint down the left sideline.
The Rams’ defense stopped Clarkston on fourth-and-inches play and picked off a pass inside the 1 on Clarkston’s next two drives.
“Those plays were huge,” said Munger. “Every time it seemed like they threatened us, we came through with a big play.”
Clarkston was able to cut the deficit down to 19-14 with 2:23 to play after a long drive was capped when Alex Dicea hauled in an 8-yard strike from Zezula. The on-side kick attempt moments later failed, giving Rockford control of the football once again.
Three plays later, Rockford capped the upset when Kaule broke free for a 52-yard touchdown run in front of the Clarkston bench to up the ante to 25-14.
“We still had a great season,” sighed Richardson. “We came up short today. We were really a couple of plays from winning this game, even with our mistakes. We lost to a great football program today. We have nothing to be ashamed of with this loss.”
Zezula finished 11-for-29 passing for 114 yards and Cason had 57 receiving yards, Dicea also had six catches for 72 yards and Caine Watlington rushed for 68 yards on four carries.
Darby had 89 yards on 19 carries and Short finished 4-of-6 passing for 152 yards for Rockford.
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