High School Playoffs: Rockets Having a Blast

WYOMING, MI (WZZM)- As the final seconds ticked down last Halloween night against Oakridge, the Wyoming Kelloggsville Rockets watched as another playoff berth come to an early end. "Here at Kelloggsville we've been out three times in the first round," says head coach Don Galster. However, this year could hold different fortunes for both the football team and its community.

Sometimes when things seem down, it's the unexpected that brings new hope. That hope for the South Division neighborhood in Wyoming has come in the form of an unexpected 9-0 Kelloggsville football team. "It's rough on this side of town as far as the economy goes, but our kids will be at a gas station or out to a fast food place or something like that and people will come up and wish them luck," says Galster, a twenty-year head coaching veteran at the school. "There are signs out on Division at different businesses wishing us luck, I've got a number of e-mails from ex-players from way before I started at Kelloggsville just wishing us luck. So I think we're kind of the bright spot of South Division right now and we have a lot of people pulling for us."

But it was the team that decided that it was time to move on from a one and done playoff run in '08 to a perfect 9-0 regular season, capturing the O-K Silver Conference. "Everybody at the beginning of the season looked at the schedule like, 'yeah we should be able to do it,' but (doing it) is more than just talk," says senior split end/linebacker Mike Richmond. "It's been a good season," adds Galster. "Kids worked hard, came into two-a-days with a great attitude, worked hard and it carried on. We have gotten better week to week and our number one goal was to win the O-K Silver and we just kind of put it together as we're on a mission to win the Silver and then we'll go from there. We accomplished our first goal, now the second one gets a lot tougher."

As the Rockets head into Friday's game at Russell Formsma Field to take on the Hillsdale Hornets (6-3), the banners and signs proudly displayed in corner shops, fast food joints, and gas stations along South Division will go with them. For this year the Rockets won't just be playing for a spot in the second round, but for a community that's been inspired by its best football team ever.