Local Sports Journal

Julian Munday tallied three touchdowns and 255 yards rushing to lead his Reeths-Puffer Rockets to a 49-14 win over Grand Rapids Union and a playoff berth.

Reeths-Puffer controlled the contest from beginning to end taking a 14-0 lead after the first quarter and a 28-0 lead by halftime. Grand Rapids Union didn’t get on the board until the fourth quarter.

“I am a proud coach tonight,” said second-year Reeths-Puffer head coach Kyle Jewitt. “Proud of the way our kids have responded to the expectations and the vision of the program in the past two years.”

Quarterback Garrett Blanshine put Reeths-Puffer on the board first with a 59-yard touchdown run. Munday followed up with a 13-yard strike of his own.

Trevor Mosher’s 21-yard TD reception from Blanshine opened up scoring in the second quarter to put RP up 21-0 and Munday broke free for a 65-yard scoring run and the Rockets were well on their way to the win.

Munday opened up the second half with a 51-yard strike and Dereko Riley capped off third quarter scoring with a 12-yard run.

Cain White rounded out Reeths-Puffer scoring with a 2-yard run in the fourth.

Blanshine finished 5 of 10 passing for 76 yards and had 96 yards rushing on three attempts.

Defensively Reeths-Puffer was led by DeAngelo Williams with nine tackles. Austin Malotke had seven tackels and Josh Buie had six.

Jewitt couldn’t have been happier with the way his team played Friday night and this season. He turned around a struggling program that hadn’t made the playoffs since 2007.

“I am proud of the way we’ve embrace what has become our mantra, playing ‘one way’, that is, the Reeths-Puffer football way regardless of opponent, location or size of crowd,” said Jewitt. “We pride ourselves on toughness, both inside and out and I couldn’t be more proud of our kids for embracing that identity.”