RAPID RIVER — The Rapid River Rockets weren’t able to complete a late-game rally Friday as the North Dickinson Nordics won 36-26 in Rapid River.

“Well, our guys played their hearts out,” said Rockets coach Steve Ostrenga. “We were down four starters. Our 15 guys played their hearts out. If you can give this kind of effort, that’s a championship effort.”

The Rockets opened the game’s scoring in the first quarter going up 14-0 on a pass from Blake Lundquist to Nick Rasper for a 39-yard touchdown — followed by a two-point conversion to Taj Cavanaugh from Lundquist.

Cavanaugh scored later in the first quarter, too, on a five-yard burst into the endzone for another touchdown.

North Dickinson scored to make it 14-8 at the end of the first, but the Rockets scored again in the second to make it 20-8 with a Lundquist pass to Conner Kee.

After the Nordics took the lead, Cavanaugh found the endzone for the Rockets one more time on a one-yard effort.

“We played hard. We had our chances a mistake here, a dropped pass here,” said Ostrenga. “I’m just really really proud of the effort. The coaches, the gameplan, it was solid, which was nice to see. We just got to keep working and getting better at tackling and finishing.”

The Rockets host the Norway Knights on Friday.