Rob Roos | Sault Ste. Marie News Rapid River quarterback Bryce Lundquist scrambles for a first down during a regional playoff game against Cedarville Friday night. Cedarville downed Rapid River 28-20.

CEDARVILLE — Rapid River mounted a late comeback for a second straight week, but this time came up short.

Cedarville prevailed 28-20 over the Rockets in an 8-Player Division 2 regional semifinal game at Hossack Memorial Field.

Raid River finishes 6-2. Rockets quarterback Byrce Lundquist was 22-of-44 for 324 yards passing and three touchdowns. Max Lenaker hauled in three catches for 32 yards and two TDs. Ben Lenaker had 11 receptions for 144 yards, and Ishmael Hernandez also reeled in a 55-yard TD catch.

“We gave them fits with some things in the second half, that maybe we should have done a little earlier but hindsight is 20-20,” Rapid River coach Steve Ostrenga said. “Give Cedarville credit. They’re a tough, senior-ladened football team. Their quarterback threw the ball well and we let some receivers get behind our defense on some big plays. We were just a little short tonight.”

Cedarville led 16-6 at halftime but failed to capitalize in the red zone early. The Trojans had the ball within the Rockets’ 10-yard line three times in the half but came away without any points on those trips.

Cedarville collected a safety to score the first points of the game in the second quarter. The Trojans made it 8-0 with a 40-yard TD run from Caleb Kohlman on their next possession.

The Rockets answered with a 6-yard TD pass from Lundquist to Max Lenaker on the last play of the half.

“We had such bad field position for so long, and that hurt us,” Ostrenga said. “We couldn’t seem to get out of the shadow of our own end zone for a while. They eventually took advantage of that. We needed to be better at the start.”

Cedarville quarterback connected with Aiden Ondrus on a 74-yard touchdown pass at 1:46 of the third quarter, as the Trojans pushed their lead to 22-6.

The Rockets began to unleash their passing attack in the second half.

They came right back to score, with Lundquist hitting Hernandez with a 55-yard TD pass. Tacking on a 2-point conversion, the Rockets got within 22-14.

Hilts found Ondrus again for another long TD pass, from 64-yards out at 10:08 of the fourth quarter.

The Rockets answered again with one more quick drive, capped by an 8-yard scoring pass from Lundquist to Max Lenaker with 8:12 left. The conversion pass failed, leaving the Rockets trailing 28-20.

The Rockets had two more chances, but one drive was stopped on an interception by Kohlman. On the last possession, the Rockets drove to the Cedarville 27-yard line before time expired on a short pass completion.

“That’s playoff football,” Cedarville coach Scott Barr said. “I feel like I aged 10 years tonight. Hats off to coach Steve Ostrenga and the Rapid River team. They were ready and gave us all we could handle.”

On defense, Wyatt Smith made nine sole and three assisted tackles, and Parker Dausey had eight tackles for the Rockets.

Cedarville compiled 300 yards rushing and 478 yards of total offense. Kohlman ran for 158 yards on 12 carries, and he also caught three passes for 48 yards. Hilts was 5-of-13 passing for 178 yards, and Ondrus led the receivers with two catches for 130 yards.

The Trojans (7-1) advance to play the North Central vs. Lake Lindell-Hubbell winner in the regional final next week.