MUSKEGON – The Jakob Price explosion was bound to happen sooner or later, and it’s coming at the perfect time for the Muskegon Big Reds.

Headed into the season, the Big Reds were excited about their three-headed monster rushing attack, featuring three talented juniors – Price, slot receiver Destin Piggee and quarterback M’Khi Guy.

That attack lost a bit of its ferocity in a preseason scrimmage, however, when Price injured his right ankle, missed the first two games of the season, then returned to form slowly as the ankle gradually healed.

The Big Reds clearly missed having their gifted running back at full strength, and it showed it times during the early part of the season. They struggled to beat East Kentwood in their opener, lost badly to Warren De La Salle in Week 2, and lost to O-K Green rival Zeeland West in Week 5.

But a healthy Price has been taking the field in recent weeks, and the Big Reds are a much better team.

That was clear in Week 9 against rival Mona Shores, when Price rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns in a 55-25 victory. Piggee had 169 yards in that game, while Guy had 167, demonstrating for the world what the three-headed monster could do.

It was clear in Muskegon’s Division 3 pre-district game against Sparta, when Price rushed for a team-high 95 yards (including a 57-yard burst) and two touchdowns in a 64-9 victory.

Price’s comeback peaked on Friday in the district title game against Coopersville, when he rushed for a season-high 180 yards and three touchdowns, leading Muskegon to a 40-14 win.

“It was fun having all the guys block for me and cheering me on,” said Price, whose team will have a rematch against Zeeland West on Saturday at home for a regional championship and a berth in the state semifinals. “I don’t play for myself. I play for everyone else on the team. I give my all for them and I know they give their all for me.

Friday’s victory was special for Muskegon, which had won nine district championships in a row before the streak was painfully broken last year with a loss to Cedar Springs in the district finals.

“It was very frustrating,” Price said about losing to Cedar Springs. “We had a lot of stuff going on. We weren’t as focused as we are this year. Getting that trophy on Friday was a big accomplishment, but we’ve got more to do. Right now we’re focusing on a regional championship, the semifinals and getting to Ford Field.”

Price said he probably could have played in the first two games of the season, despite his injury, but agreed with his coaches when they decided to take the safer approach and keep him sidelined.

He returned in Week 3 against Reeths-Puffer and gained 56 yards with one touchdown, but it took weeks for the ankle to heal up to the point where Price was 100 percent.

“It was hard,” he said. “I wanted to be out there with my teammates so bad, but I knew if I did I would just hurt myself even more and wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing right now. Being patient was the hardest thing to do.

“I couldn’t run or jog for a week, then I could jog but not sprint, then against Reeths-Puffer I could sprint, but it wasn’t a full sprint.”

The pain lingered for weeks after Price returned, but he gutted it out and helped his team as much as he could.

He rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown against Zeeland East in Week 3, and had similar performances over the next three weeks against Zeeland West (84 yards, three touchdowns), Grand Rapids Union (70 yards, one TD) and Wyoming (88 yards, one TD).

“The injury I had, it doesn’t really heal completely until you just stop completely,” he said. “You’ve just got to tough it out and do your best to go 100 percent. I know I’m a better player than that, but I just tried to be patient and prayed to God that I could hurry up and heal.”

Muskegon Coach Shane Fairfield noted that even as the physical injury healed, it took some time for Price to run with full confidence again, because there are always nagging fears about a re-injury.

“Psychologically it lingers, and trying to get them through that and get them comfortable again is a challenge,” Fairfield said.

Price said his ankle was feeling pretty good for the showdown game against Mona Shores, and he had a lot of motivation.

“I never plan on losing to them,” he said.

Fairfield said it was obvious in the week leading up to the Mona Shores game that Price was back in full force.

“I want to say against Wyoming or Union he started to play like himself, then he was 100 percent for the Mona Shores game,” the coach said. “We saw in practice that week that he was running and making cuts without any issues.

“Since then he’s been lighting in a bottle. It’s amazing having him healthy again. I’m excited.”

Price and the Big Reds will be extra fired up against Zeeland West on Saturday. Obviously a regional championship will be at stake, but the Big Reds are also eager to prove that they are much better than they looked in their 38-36 loss to the Dux in Week 5.

In a way that loss had some value, according to Price, because it forced the players to take a long look at themselves and how they were doing things.

“It was a wakeup call,” Price said. “We realized that if we kept playing like that, we weren’t going to win anything. We needed to grow up and get better at what we were doing. We knew we were a better team, and that’s shown in the last couple weeks. Our defense has grown up and our offense has gotten better.

“People didn’t see the best we could be at that time. Now they’re going to see what we have to offer.”

Price stopped short of saying Muskegon will be out for revenge against Zeeland West.

“They’re on the clock,” he said. “That’s all I have to say.”