MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – The Mona Shores Sailors are known far and wide as a big-play football team.
On Friday night they were certainly that again, but the big plays came on the defensive side of the ball in a grueling 15-0 victory over a determined Reeths-Puffer squad at Rocket Stadium.
The win gave the Sailors at least a share of the O-K Green conference championship. They will play for the outright title next week when they face Muskegon at Hackley Stadium.
The Big Reds and Zeeland West are one game behind the Sailors in the conference standings.
The Sailors never really got their explosive offense untracked against an R-P defense that clearly wasn’t intimidated by the damage that Mona Shores has inflicted on other opponents.
[1]Mona Shores only managed three points in the first half, and the field goal came on the final play before halftime, with one second left on the clock.
The defense took care of the rest in the second half, wit a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, and a pair of interceptions, including one that led to the final Sailors score.
Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak was very happy with his defense after the game, knowing that the D unit will be just as important as offense next week against the Big Reds, and in the playoffs.
“This is a unique defense we have,” Koziak said. “There are no real standouts. They just play collectively and get the job done. Our defense played hard tonight. Things were not going our way, but our kids answered.
“It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”
[2]The one real bright spoton offense for the Sailors was sophomore quarterback Johnathon Pittman,
On a night when speedsters like Dahmir Farnum and Jaylen Vinton found the big yards hard to come by, Pittman came through with lots of big runs when the Sailors really needed them.
“We didn’t run him a lot early in the year because we need him healthy, but now he’s getting into the rhythm of the game and gaining confidence and we’re running him downhill a lot,” Koziak said. “He got some big first downs tonight.”
Reeths-Puffer showed that it came to play early in the game, taking the opening kickoff and driving from their own 22 to the Mona Shores 14 on 15 plays.
The drive stalled on downs with 4:33 left in the first quarter on an incomplete pass.
[3]Mona Shores answered with a long drive of its own, using 17 plays to move the ball to the R-P 15 before a fumble ended the effort with 8:45 left in the second quarter.
The Rockets started their next possession with a big play when quarterback Brady Ross hit a wide-open Brooks Johnson with a 45-yard pass, giving R-P another great opportunity in Sailor territory.
But that Rocket drive proved futile, as well, when the home team turned the ball over downs again following in incomplete pass at the Mona Shores 25.
The Sailors used the rest of the first half to drive from their own 25 to the R-P 9 with one second left on the clock.
[4]Pittman had the big play on the drive, keeping the ball on third down and rushing from the Sailor 41 to the R-P 27 for a 32-yard gain.
Kicker Kaden Pulaski hit the 26-yard field goal as the clock expired and Mona Shores went to the locker room with a 3-0 lead.
The Sailors were forced to punt on the opening drive of the third quarter, and the Rockets were set to do the same from their own 45-yard line, but the kick was blocked by Mona Shores’ Octavio Alverado and was scooped up and ran in by Brandon Bankard. The PAT kick failed, leaving the Sailors with a 9-0 lead with 4:26 remaining in the third.
“That was a huge momentum change, then we got the two interceptions,” Koziak said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way our defense played tonight. They were the story of the game.”
Reeths-Puffer’s Tayte Vanderleest took the ensuing kickoff, broke several tackles along the sideline and made it all the way to the Sailor 35, but the 46-yard return was called back on a holding penalty.
[5]The Rockets started their drive back at their own 20 and advanced to the 44, but Mona Shores’ Ke’Waun Farnum ended the threat when he picked off a long pass at the Sailor 21.
Mona Shores punted again after a 10-play effort, and the Rockets had the ball on third-and-11 at their own 38 when Brandon Bankard picked off another pass, and the Sailors got the ball back at the R-P 40.
The visitors scored four plays later on a seven-yard touchdown run by Dahmir Farnum, the PAT kick failed again, and the Sailors had their final margin of victory.
The Rockets aided the Sailors’ scoring effort with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“I think the biggest takeaway tonight is understanding moments and executing in those moments,” said R-P Coach Cody Kater. “We understood the moments but didn’t execute. We had a couple of turnovers and turnovers on downs.”
Kater said he was proud of the way his players fought, particularly against a team that has dominated Reeths-Puffer in recent years. He gave a lot of credit to his defense and their coaches and said good lessons can be learned from the game.
“We’re going to take a lot of this in and move forward in a good way,” the coach said.
“I’ve got a team full of gritty, tough guys. We’ve been in every game we’ve played this year. We don’t believe in moral victories, but the kids can be proud of the way they fought.”
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