ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — A one-yard gain turned out to be the difference in a back-and-forth matchup between Holland West Ottawa and Rockford on Friday night.
After falling down 21-10 at halftime, West Ottawa came back and scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run by Issac Van Dyke to steal a 45-40 victory.
West Ottawa scored the first touchdown of the game, but Rockford recovered quickly and went on to dominate the rest of the half. Right after giving up the touchdown, Rockford quickly through for one to make the score 14-10.
The Rams then pinned West Ottawa’s offense back on the one-yard line and took advantage; forcing a fumble and recovering it before punching in a one-yard score.
Shortly after halftime, West Ottawa recovered a Rockford fumble near midfield. Two plays later, Van Dyke started his heroic efforts with a touchdown pass to make the score 21-18 after a two-point conversion.
He continued his strong showing on the team’s next drive when he broke off a long touchdown run to give his team a 25-21 lead. The Panthers quarterback continued his hot streak later in the third quarter with a 67-yard touchdown pass to gain a 32-21 advantage.
Rockford answered back with a one-yard touchdown run, but failed to convert a two-point conversion to bring the score to 32-27.
Unfortunately for the Rams, Van Dyke continued his stellar play with a 3-yard score to increase the lead back to 39-27.
Despite being down, the Rams were resilient and came back to score on a short touchdown pass to get within five points, 39-34. Rockford continued to come up clutch in the fourth, scoring a touchdown after converting a 3rd-and-30 with two minutes remaining.
However, Van Dyke powered his offense down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with just 20 seconds remaining.
