Rockets take off, defeat Cougars in 8-man action
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RAPID RIVER -- It was a strong night on the gridiron for the Rapid River Rockets as they defeated the Superior Central Cougars 68-18 here Friday night.
Quarter One: For the first half of the quarter, it started out as what seemed to be an evenly matched night with no points on the board until senior Aidan Korpi got a touchdown with 6:44 on the clock. That didn’t stop the Rockets from marching down the field. Junior Hayden Kee received the kick return on the 49-yard line. Senior Lane Olson ran the ball for 16 yards. As the Rockets continued to get yardage, it eventually turned into a touchdown pass to sophomore Corey Boston-Marsh, tying the score six to six at 3:45. Right after, on the kick return, senior Aidan Korpi received the ball and ran it for a touchdown. Once again, the Rockets continued their fight as sophomore #10 Coen Smith was working on closing the gap to the end zone, eventually getting close enough for another touchdown by sophomore Corey Boston-Marsh. This is where the Rockets were able to hold Superior Central's score for the majority of the game that remained. The Rockets kicked the ball off and successfully recovered it. Sophomore #10 Coen Smith had about 30 rushing yards before senior Lane Olson was able to complete the pass to junior #0 Brennen Kee and a two-point conversion by senior Rowen Flath with 0:02 on the clock, leaving the Rockets in the lead by the end of the first with a score of 20-12
Quarter Two: The Rockets continued their lead to 24 points by the end of the first half. With 5:13 on the clock, Coen Smith receives a Rockets touchdown with the conversion by junior Brennen Kee. Superior Central was having a hard time getting past the Rockets’ defense as they were stopped on a 4th down. Lane Olson took his opportunity and had a 27-yard run. Then he threw a pass to Brennen Kee for a touchdown, with a conversion by Senior Joseph Thorbahn with 0:21 left on the clock. Ending the second quarter’s score with 36-12
Quarter Three: The Rockets continued what they started with #10 Coen Smith and #42 Rowen Flath worked the ball down the field, leading to a touchdown by junior Hayden Kee with another conversion by Joseph Thorbahn. Superior's possession of the ball was cut short by an interception from Brennen Kee for a 34-yard run, allowing Lane Olson to run in for a touchdown with 7:39 on the clock. Shortly after, junior Brennen Kee had a second interception that led to another touchdown, this time to senior Rowen Flath and a conversion from Coen Smith with 4:09 on the clock. Superior was getting close to a touchdown, but the clock ran out of time on their 3rd down. Ending the third quarter with a score of 60-12
Quarter Four: The Cougars started off with possession of the ball. The Rockets were able to put a stop on the 4th down. Senior Lane Olson was able to get a 39-yard run for a first down. Alex Shirverdecker had the Rockets’ last touchdown of the night with a conversion by senior #88 Evan Closs. The Cougars continued to fight and got one last touchdown from junior #10 Hunter Baker with 0:13 on the clock, leaving the final score 68-18.
When talking to Coach Joe Smith he said “To be honest, their season went, I mean, we went five and four, which is the first winning season for Rocket football since 2020. Every year I’ve been back here, we’ve improved, and I mean, we've got to consider this a success by far. Hopefully still a chance in the playoffs as of right now, and we’ll know by Monday. All in all, a great season."
“We ran 34 and 33 power very consistently with Coen out of the backfield, with Rowen blocking. We were getting chunk plays, getting 20 to 30 yards each time. He even took one to the house. And then Lane hit Rowen Flath, Brennen, and Hayden Kee with deep passes, so those were our big plays.
“Coen, he had 160 yards rushing, and then Brennen had three picks. So right there, and then also Lane is our field general, throwing the ball very well. And then Rowen on defense, just like all year long, he led us with over 10 tackles. In a game like this, for 68 points, it’s hard to pick an MVP, you know, but we had five or six guys that stood out, and those were them.”
Senior Rowen Flath, when asked about the game: "It was great, the last game, great atmosphere. Just wanna play one last game with all my friends from 5th grade, 6th grade. I just wanna play one more game. We put up all those points. It was great to get everyone a touchdown. Let’s see everyone do well. Just a great night for football."
Senior Lane Olson, when asked about the game: "We had the energy in the beginning, you know; we should fix up the defense a little, offense, maybe a little work, but you know, we had to get it done. Once you get that going, you know, try and keep rolling, as the coaches say. I just showed what we can do, and hopefully we can go farther."