RIVER FOREST, Ill. - Saturday was an excellent day for the Rockford University football team, as it capped off the 2014 season with a convincing 25-11 road win against the Concordia University Chicago Cougars. Rockford dominated nearly every facet of the game on Saturday. The Regents held nearly a 12-minute advantage in time of possession, had 10 more first downs, outgained the Cougars by almost 250 yards and were plus 3 in the turnover battle. Saturday's victory marked the first NACC win for Rockford since October 20, 2012 when the Regents defeated Maranatha 34-14. The win also snaps a 39-game losing streak against current NACC opponents dating back to Rockford's 41-38 overtime win against Concordia Chicago on October 11, 2008. It is also the Regents' first conference road victory against a current NACC member.
Rockford never trailed in the game as it found the end zone in each quarter. The Regents opened the scoring on Saturday with a 10-play, 43-yard touchdown drive to take a 6-0 lead. Junior running back Pete Berry (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard) was a workhorse on the drive carrying the ball 6 times for 33 yards including a 2-yard plunge into the end zone. However, it was not all great news as the Cougars blocked the extra point and ran it back for 2 points to make it a 6-2 Rockford lead. A couple of possessions later, following a Kalab Polky (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Christian) interception, the Regents put together nearly an 8-minute drive, spanning 81 yards and ending with a 4-yard Pete Berry touchdown run. The celebration would again be short lived, as the Cougars scored a touchdown of their own 29 seconds later to cut Rockford's lead to just 12-9 entering halftime.
The second half of action was dominated by Rockford as the Regents scored on its opening possession and never looked back. It took the Regents just 3 plays to find the end zone in the third quarter when Reginald Haynes (Chicago, Ill./Prosser Career Academy) found senior wide receiver Andrew Stochl (Fox Lake, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) for a 54-yard touchdown giving Rockford a 19-9 advantage. After fumbles ended the next two drives for the Cougars, Rockford put the game away early in the fourth quarter with its fourth touchdown of the afternoon. Reggie Haynes completed a pair of long passes on the scoring drive including a 57-yard completion to Milton Phillips Jr. (Rockford, Ill./Guilford) and a 21-yard completion to Dane Kirk (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township). Pete Berry then capped off the drive with his third rushing touchdown of the day this one from 6 yards out. The Cougars would once again block the extra point and return it for a score, but it would not matter as the Regents cruised to the 25-11 win.
Offensively it was a banner day for the Regents as they played arguably their best game of the season. Rockford used a very balanced attack on Saturday as the Regents had a 200-yard passer, 100-yard rusher and 100-yard receiver for the first time all season. Quarterback Reginald Haynes completed 10 passes for a season-high 217 yards and 1 touchdown. Running back Pete Berry carried the ball a season-high 26 times for 105 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Milton Phillips Jr. caught 6 passes for 107 yards to surpass the 100-yard threshold for the second time this season. As a unit the Regents had 405 yards of total offense including 217 passing yards and 188 rushing yards. Rockford also had zero turnovers for the first time this year.
Defensively the Regents were equally impressive. As a unit Rockford allowed just 7 points as the other 4 Concordia points came off botched extra point attempts. Rockford tied its season-high forcing 3 Cougar turnovers including one interception and recovering 2 of the 3 forced fumbles. Sophomore Kendell Lee (Poplarville, Miss./Poplarville) led the defensive unit with a game-high 10 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. Lee also recovered a fumble and had 2 pass breakups. Jon Porter (Rockford, Ill./Jefferson) and Seth Swinehart (Rockford, Ill./East) each forced a fumble while recording 7 and 6 tackles respectively. Senior Cody Casazza (Rockford, Ill./Jefferson) forced the other fumble and tallied a game-high 2 sacks. Senior Jacob Gorsuch (Rockford, Ill./Jefferson) recovered his first fumble of the year while freshman Kalab Polky intercepted his second pass this season. Rockford stymied the Concordia offense all afternoon as the Regents surrendered a season-low 159 yards of total offense including just 69 passing yards.
The Regents ended the 2014 season with a 2-8 overall record. Rockford finished in a fifth place tie in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a 1-5 NACC record.
