Rockets survive SC scare
Rapid River pulls out 2 OT thriller
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RAPID RIVER -- It's only the second week of the high school football season, but there's already a front-runner for the game of the year.
Rapid River forced overtime late in the fourth quarter Thursday and pulled out the 48-40 victory in double overtime against Superior Central in a thriller.
"We persevered," said Rapid River coach Steve Ostrenga. "They (Superior Central) brought it tonight. They had good speed and a good scheme. Once we started figuring out their misdirection we started tackling better. The guys agree we have some work to do but with that being said we persevered through injuries and I'm very proud of our football team."
The Cougars capped off a 13-play 80-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown run by Beau Rondeau to increase their lead to eight with 2:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.
That was plenty of time for the Rockets as they marched 61 yards in three plays to tie the score at 34 with 53 seconds left to force overtime on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Brent Lundquist to Lucas Sundling.
"It was pretty much the same play that I had against Crystal Falls when I got a catch in the end zone," said Sundling. "I was telling myself I couldn't miss the ball because it was such an important play for the game."
In the overtime period, each team got a chance at the 10-yard line to score. Both teams scored a touchdown on their first possession.
Sundling ran the ball in for a score on Rapid River's second attempt and ran in the conversion to go up by eight.
On fourth down of Superior Central's ensuing possession, Rondeau was tackled by Takota Hardwick to end the game.
"Takota shot the gap and made a nice play," said Ostrenga. "Our defense bent at times all night but when you're missing two defensive starters guys had to step up and they did."
Cougar coach Sam Eggleston was expecting a tight game but would have liked a different result.
"Rapid River is an amazing football team," said Eggleston. "We have a bit of a rivalry with them with no victory on our end during that time. This is everything we would want of a high school football game. It came down to who had the last block and we didn't have it."
The Rockets kicked off the scoring in the first quarter with a 21-yard touchdown run from Jarrett LaCasse, but the Cougars came back with a touchdown of their own in the first quarter with a 9-yard run from Rondeau.
Superior Central and Rapid River each scored two touchdowns in the second quarter including a 65-yard kick return from Sundling.
The Cougars were 2-2 on 2-point conversions while the Rockets failed on both attempts as Superior Central took a 22-20 lead into halftime.
The Cougars scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 4-yard run from Rondeau to earn a 28-20 lead entering the fourth quarter. The Rockets lost their starting center Sam Orth to a neck injury in the third quarter and was taken off the field on a stretcher.
The Rockets outscored the Cougars in the fourth quarter 14-6 to force overtime.
Sundling ran for 129 yards on 15 carries and caught three passes for 126 yards for a total of three touchdowns for the Rockets, while LaCasse ran for 94 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns.
Rondeau had a big game for the Cougars as he ran for 248 yards on 40 carries and six touchdowns.
"Beau is one of those players this whole program is built around," said Eggleston. "When I took over the program last year Beau became my starting quarterback and we've designed the entire offense around him and today he showed why."
Rapid River will host North Dickinson Friday while Superior Central will travel to Powers to take on Carney-Nadeau Saturday, September 9.
The summary:
First quarter
RR -- LaCasse 21 run (Lundquist to Frusti)
SC -- Rondeau 9 run (converion failed)
Second quarter
SC -- Rondeau 46 run (Fink run), 6:50
RR -- Sundling 65 kick return (conversion failed), 6:37
SC -- Rondeau 1 run (Rondeau to Kulik), 1:50
RR -- LaCasse 3 run (conversion failed), 1:12
Third quarter
SC -- Rondeau 4-yard run (conversion failed), 1:58
Fourth quarter
RR -- LaCasse 11 run (conversion failed), 7:25
SC -- Rondeau 29 run (conversion failed), 2:30
RR -- Sundling 33 pass from Lundquist (Lundquist to LaCasse), :53
Overtime
RR -- Lundquist 3 run (conversion failed)
SC -- Rondeau 10 run (conversion failed)
Second overtime
RR -- Sundling 7 run (Sundling run)