12 Saturday, October 12, 2024 http://www.sunandnews.com
13-0 Rams lead.
“You have to finish drives against
Rockford,” Caledonia head coach
Derek Pennington said. “The first half,
we should have been up. I don’t know
what it is, the first running play against
us three or four times this year has gone
for a touchdown. We have to fit to runs
early and play defense on the first play of
the game. And, we have to finish drives.
“I thought Betser played a gutty
performance. He got dinged up late, his
ankle. [Aaron] Collins had a bunch of
catches ... but you can’t play football
and just make some good plays. You
have to execute and finish drives. We
had some missed assignments on the
o-line, but we’re playing literally, after
[Jackson] Olin, got hurt with no seniors
on the offensive line. I would say there
are growing pains up there. We took in a
game plan that we thought was going to
give us a chance, but we were going to
have to execute and catch and complete
balls and finish drives and we just didn’t
do it. We completed a lot of balls, but
we didn’t score a lot of points.”
Caledonia was able to turn one Rock-
ford turnover into points in the first
half. Aaron Collins made a tremendous
break on a ball in the air and snagged
it in front of the Caledonia sideline for
an interception just over two minutes to
go in the half. Collins added a 34-yard
reception on a fourth down pass from
quarterback Brody Betser, and two plays
later Betser tossed a 12-yard touchdown
pass to wide receiver Lincoln Senti.
The Scots went into the half down13-7 feeling like maybe they should
have been in front. A couple passes
in the red zone narrowly missed their
mark, and a few more went just off the
hands of Caledonia receivers.
The Rockford offensive line controlled
the second half, with the Rams only at-
tempting one pass early in the third. Poot
scored on a 4-yard run with 2:13 to go
in the third quarter. Poot closed the game
with 15 rushes for 205 yards.
Things went from bad to worse for
the Scots from there. Betser was sacked
on third-and-long deep in the Scots end,
injuring an ankle on the play. Rockford’s
Oliver Sweezer blocked Caledonia’s
punt on the next play and his teammate
Corbin Starkey recovered it for a touch-
down. The Ram lead was suddenly 27-7.
A six-play, 50-yard Ram drive early
in the fourth ended in a 1-yard TD by
Thomas Becker IV.
Sophomore quarterback Bryce
Backus took over for the Scots after
Betser’s injury and in the end led a 69-
yard scoring drive that culminated in a
1-yard TD run for the Scots’ back-up.
Betser was 19-of-35 passing for 227
yards. Backus was 9-of-12 for 99 yards
passing. The Caledonia offense couldn’t
get anything going on the ground, but
Collins had a huge night offensively and
defensively. He had a game-high ten
receptions for 185 yards. Senti finished
with eight catches for 82 yards.
Both Caledonia and Rockford were
4-2 overall leaving the field. The Scots
were back at it in the OK Red Confer-
ence at Jenison Friday, Oct. 11. They will
be back inside the Ralph in Caledonia
Friday, Oct. 18, to face the OK Red
Conference leading Hudsonville Eagles.SCOTS
Continued from Page 11Simply Perfect
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Sports Editor
East Grand Rapids celebrated its
homecoming Friday with a 35-8 win
over Thornapple Kellogg.
Pioneer quarterback Carson Thorn-
ton scored on a three-yard TD run early
in the first quarter and then a two-yard
TD run by back Tyler Blake with with
four minutes to go in the first. The
Pioneers led 14-0 after one quarter.
It was 28-0 at the half. The Pioneers
added a three-yard TD run by Blake
with three and a half minutes to go
before the break and then a five-yard
TD run by Blake in the final half
minute of the first half.
The Trojan offense was slowed
by a couple fumbles throughout the
evening.
Thornton closed out the scoring
with a 16-yard TD pass to James
Wiener in the third quarter that helped
the lead grow to 35-0.
Thornton threw for 91 yards. Tyler
Blake had seven carries for 59 yards
and rushed for three touchdowns.
for the Pioneers’ and Leighton Kolk
rushed seven times for 80 yards.
The Trojan defense forced a turn-
over on downs early in the fourth
quarter, and the TK offense started
a drive at the Pioneer 31-yard-line
that ended in a 33-yard touchdown
run by Zach Eldrige and a two-point
conversion.Fighting Scot senior Reed Vogeler (4) eyes the bouncing ball as teammate
River Swanlund hauls down Rockford quarterback Brayden Daniels during
the Rams’ win inside Ralph E. Myers Stadium in Caledonia Friday, Oct. 4.
Photo by Brett BremerEGR holds TK off the
scoreboard until late
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