Caledonia football routs Grandville in first round to set up rematch with Rockford

Caledonia had everything going for it in its first-round playoff victory.

CALEDONIA, Mich. — Caledonia (9-1) football moves on to the district finals after completely dominating in every facet on the game in a 48-26 victory over Grandville (7-3).

Quarterback Mason McKenzie was as good as ever, rushing for three touchdowns on the day, including one for 78-yards. Running back Brock Townsend added to the fun with two rushing touchdowns of his own. 

But the Caledonia special teams really stole the show, blocking two punts and returning them both for touchdowns. It also blocked an extra point.

Here are four takeaways from the game:

Caledonia gets back on track

Caledonia looked helpless last week against Rockford. It couldn't get anything going offensively, and Rockford just beat it up for 48 minutes. It looked much better and ready to go this week.

"I thought we were good in all three phases of the game," head coach Derek Pennington said. "The two blocked punts were huge. Really happy with our special teams. Offensively, I thought we played well. All around, good effort today."

Townsend said the offense could get even better.

"We came out there expecting to score a lot of points," Townsend said. "We played alright offensively, but I still think there's another level we could get to."

Grandville just made too many mistakes

Grandville had a really hard time holding on to the football, especially in the first half. It fumbled the ball four times, losing three of them.

"You can't hand them points," head coach Eric Stiegel said. "They have one of the better offenses in the state, so you can't hand them points. But give a lot of credit to Caledonia—they capitalized on those mistakes."

Grandville also had many issues on special teams, allowing one blocked punt and having the snap go over the punter's head on another.

"(We definitely) made some mistakes on special teams," Stiegel said. We made some errors on the protection (on the blocked punt)."

Grandville also played this game without quarterback Carson Smith, who was injured. Then, backup quarterback Cashis Ruff broke his hand early in the game, so Stiegel had to play a quarterback from the junior varsity team.

Reflection on Grandville's season and a look toward the future

Grandville finishes its season 7-3. Stiegel offered lots of reflection after the game.

"I'm really proud of the team," Stiegel said. "I'm really proud of our senior group. They overcame a lot. They showed a lot of growth since the time that they were freshman. I'm just tremendously proud of guys that made that next step."

Looking ahead for Grandville, it has an outstanding freshman running back in Jayden Terry, who scored two touchdown in this game, including one for 70-yards. Stiegel said he's not just excited for him, but he's excited for a lot of the guys he's got coming back next year. 

"(Terry) is a great player—everybody knows that," Stiegel said. "Both our freshman and our JV teams are really good. There's a lot of really good players there, and a lot of really good players that were sophomores and juniors on this team."

Caledonia get its rematch with Rockford

Caledonia will face off with Rockford in the district finals. Pennington said the team just has to play better if it wants to win this time around.

"We didn't play very well in that first game," Pennington said. "We had some turnovers and we didn't throw or catch the ball well. But I believe in our kids. I think we can do it."

Townsend said he's excited to get another chance to take down Rockford.

"We had the first game circled on our calendar forever," Townsend said. "We came up short, didn't play as well as we could've. But I think this game could be really big."