Rockets triumph over Chargers

Lost in another avalanche of points for the NR-S Rockets in their most recent win, was somewhat of a concerning performance in rushing defense.

Though the top-ranked team in Nine-Man football for another week kept it that way with a 64-26 triumph over the Nelson County Chargers Friday, Sept. 27 in Lakota, final stat lines were very much deceiving.

NR-S, in spite of getting big play after big play in the opening three quarters, were actually outgained in total offense by the Chargers, 348-335, including giving up 222 yards on the ground.

"We were in control of the score the whole game, so if a team just wants to hand the ball off 50 times and get first downs, we can live with that," Head Coach Elliott Belquist said with a chuckle. "[Nelson County's] got some big boys up front, and it made it tough to stop them up the middle."

The Rockets raced out to another fast start with three touchdowns to take a 20-0 lead in the opening quarter. Quarterback Johnny Grann connected with Bo Belquist and Hunter Thompson on big scoring plays. In between those drives, Nick Berglund intercepted a Nelson County pass and took it back 36 yards for an additional score.

In the closing moments of the first, Chargers wide receiver Cade Stein put Nelson County on the board, scoring from 13 yards out.

That set the stage for a back-and-forth second quarter, started in NR-S' favor when Colt Soderholm ended a drive with a 15-yard touchdown reception. Then, NC's passing game got going, as Roman Steffan connected with receivers Stein and Brandon Morten for plays of 40 and 30 yards.

Thompson scored his second touchdown with a four-yard run, and the younger Belquist finished the half's worth of scoring for the Rockets on a 20-yard pass play.

"At times, were were a little sloppy on offense in the first half, but we were able to make some big plays again," Belquist said.

The explosiveness continued out of the halftime speech, as Nathan Holzwarth got into the scoring act by answering a Charger score with a 65-yard pass from Grann, and Belquist hauled in his third touchdown reception of the night, also of the 65-yard variety.

Nelson County's final score came early in the third quarter with a 25-yard scoring burst by Brady Larson.

Grann completed eight out of 16 passes for 275 yards for NR-S, six of those going for scores. Belquist was the top receiver in the books with 151 yards on four catches.

"Scoring seven offensive touchdowns on 27 plays is a pretty good day, but the only bad thing about it is it leaves the defense out there a little more than we want," Coach Belquist concluded.

That defense, while a bit overworked from what they've been used to over the first few weeks, got 16 total tackles from Thompson, and all recording nine stops (assisted and unassisted) were Belquist, Kaden Jensen and Koby Duda.

The anticipated game of the year thus far in Region 2 looms this Friday, when #1 and #2 in the Nine-Man polls meet for the regional crown.

The Cavalier Tornadoes and Rockets will have likely playoff positioning on the line at CHS Friday night at 7 p.m., in the second-to-last week of play for NR-S.

Nine-Man Region 2 Football

NR-S 64, Nelson Co. 26

at Lakota

NR-S 20 24 20 0 64

NC 6 14 6 0 26

First Quarter

NR-S: Bo Belquist 52 yard pass from Johnny Grann (pass failed)

NR-S: Nick Berglund 36 yard interception return (Nathan Holzwarth pass from Grann)

NR-S: Hunter Thompson 34 yard pass from Grann (pass failed)

Nelson Co.: Cade Stein 13 yard run (run failed)

Second Quarter

NR-S: Colt Soderholm 14 yard pass from Grann (Belquist run)

NR-S: Thompson 4 yard run (Grann run)

Nelson Co.: Stein 40 yard pass from Roman Steffan (Gabe Lee pass from Steffan)

NR-S: Belquist 20 yard pass from Grann (Thompson run)

Nelson Co.: Brandon Morten 30 yard pass from Steffan (pass failed)

Third Quarter

Nelson Co.: Brady Larson 25 yard run (pass failed)

NR-S: Nathan Holzwarth 65 yard pass from Grann (run failed)

NR-S: Belquist 85 yard interception return (run failed)

NR-S: Belquist 65 yard pass from Grann (Soderholm pass from Grann)

NR-S Statistics

Offense

Passing: Grann 8-16-275 yards-6 TD-1 INT

Rushing: Thompson 6-37-TD; Belquist 1-23; Grann 3-0

Receiving: Belquist 4-151-3 TD; Holzwarth 2-76-TD; Thompson 1-33-TD; Soderholm 1-15-TD

Defense

Tackles (unassisted-assisted): Thompson (6-10); Belquist (5-4); Kaden Jensen (4-5); Soderholm (3-0); Koby Duda (3-6); Hunter Johnson (3-3); Elijah Dean-Scott (3-0); Berglund (2-3); Cole Johnson (2-0); Trevor Waldo (2-0); Billy Fleming (1-2); Evan Ulrich (1-0); Jordan Boehm (1-0); Hayden Meier (1-0); Hunter Jacobson (1-0); Holzwarth (0-4); Nick Presnell (0-1)

Sacks: C. Johnson, Thompson

Interceptions: Belquist, Berglund