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Power Rangers
Saturday, September 30, 2006By Tom Kendra
CHRONICLE ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Muskegon has two of the state's best receivers in brothers Ronald Johnson and Corey Johnson, yet it remains a ground-oriented team.
It doesn't seem to make sense, until you look at the Big Reds closer.
Muskegon buried its sixth-straight opponent on Friday night behind its huge offensive line and battering ram Ashton Leggett, who carried 24 times for 193 yards and three TDs in a 31-7 nonleague victory over Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at soggy Hackley Stadium.
"I'm the little guy on the line," explained junior guard Mac Parker, who is 6-2 and 240 pounds, but is 30 pounds lighter than any of the other four starting linemen.
"We can throw, but when you've got a guy like Ashton, it's kind of hard not to run it behind the hogs."
Muskegon, 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in Division 2 behind Birmingham Brother Rice, rolled up 373 of its 399 total yards on the ground.
The Big Reds, after spotting the Rangers an early 7-0 lead, scored on five of its six possessions in the first half to take a 31-7 halftime lead -- which is how the game finished.
"No team is perfect and in the second half we weren't in synch," said Leggett, a 5-11, 225-pound Division I prospect who also made some big hits from his linebacker position. "It was a hard day to pass because it was so wet out there, but believe me, we can throw, just not tonight."
Leggett scored on runs of 2 yards, 3 yards and 28 yards, with the Big Reds' other TDs coming on a 1-yard plunge by quarterback Chris Crawford and a 6-yard scamper by Toney Bailey.
Leading the charge up front, along with Parker, were tackles Carlin Landingham (6-4, 285) and Keith Smith (6-3, 298), guard Marcus Sandifer (6-0, 275) and center Quatilon Watts (5-9, 270).
While the final score was pretty one-sided, there were certainly several areas of concern for the Big Reds.
The defense was outstanding, except for the first drive of the game.
Forest Hills Central (4-2) came out fired up and Muskegon was flat. Running out of the I-back spot, tailback Aaron Murphy had two long runs and then Alan Delaney rumbled in from 8 yards out to give the Rangers a 7-0 lead.
"We're an attacking defense and we like to get after people which, for some reason, we didn't do at all on the first drive," said Muskegon coach Tony Annese.
After gaining 72 yards on the first drive, FHC managed just 82 yards of offense the rest of the game.
Defensive tackle John Harris was a force up front, with linebacker Terrian Kelly and safety Doriel Miller coming up and filling before the Rangers' backs could turn the corner.
Murphy finished with 18 carries for 94 yards and sophomore quarterback Alex Chopp did not complete a pass, finishing 0-for-11.
Not that Crawford was much better for Muskegon.
Crawford, a 6-0, 165-pound junior who struggled last season but has shown flashes of brilliance this fall, was off the mark on Friday. He completed 2-of-8 passes, both to Ronald Johnson, for 26 yards.
"We'll get connected," said Johnson, who is considered the top senior football player in Michigan. "Our passing game is getting better and better every day at practice, but it didn't show today in the sloppy weather."
The Big Reds couldn't sustain any drives in the second half, on the ground or through the air, as the Rangers played them to a 0-0 draw after halftime.
"We plowed them in the first half," said Annese, whose team hosts winless Reeths-Puffer next week. "So we showed that when we want to play, we are a pretty physical group. But in the second half, it was almost like we became disinterested in playing the game."
Muskegon rushed 72 times for 373 yards, using a plethora of different backs.
In addition to Leggett, five other runners gained more than 30 yards -- R.J. Daniels (5 carries for 39 yards), Darvin Hughes-Arnold (4-34), Jason Hannett (4-31), Bailey (5-30) and Crawford (6-30).
