Rockets fall in OT at Cavalier Mud Bowl

The consensus top two teams in Nine-Man football in the state of North Dakota met on a sopping wet and slippery field in Cavalier last Tuesday night, Oct. 15, for the right to be this year's Region 2 champions.

And it took until after the regulation horn sounded to come up with that verdict.

The NR-S Rockets and Cavalier Tornadoes matched each other punch for punch with a 14-14 score at the end of four quarters, but Tanner Urlaub's two-point conversion after his own six-yard touchdown run in overtime gave Cavalier a dramatic 22-20 win and the top seed going into the playoffs.

NR-S had the first shot in the extra session, and cashed in on Hunter Thompson's touchdown run. Cavalier got the final chance to score, and broke the tie with the two points.

Cavalier's Colton Ratchenski had 113 yards on 13 carries, but 112 of those came on two plays. The senior quarterback had an 80-yard sprint for a score in the second quarter, and added another touchdown of 32 yards in the third.

The Rockets got on the board first when senior Bo Belquist broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Belquist and quarterback Johnny Grann connected with a 30-yard reception in the third. He also added the conversion run to forge the tie which lasted until the end of the fourth.

Due to the massive early snow storm that hit much of eastern North Dakota the previous weekend, the game's kickoff was moved up four days to this past Tuesday.

NR-S (6-1, 6-1) finished up their regular season this past Saturday against the Dunseith Dragons.

Nine-Man Region 2 Football Cavalier 22, NR-S 20 OT at Cavalier

NR-S 0 6 8 0 6 20

Cavalier 0 6 8 0 8 22

Second Quarter

NR-S: Bo Belquist 43 yard run (pass failed)

Cavalier: Colton Ratchenski 80 yard run (run failed)

Third Quarter

Cavalier: Ratchenski 32 yard run (Ratchenski run)

NR-S: Belquist 30 yard pass from Johnny Grann (Belquist run)

Overtime

NR-S: Hunter Thompson run (run failed)

Cavalier: Tanner Urlaub 6 yard run (Urlaub run)

Statistics not available at press time

PLEASE NOTE: The Saturday home game vs. Dunseith was relocated to the Minot High School footballf field due to the conditions at the NR-S field. Kickoff was slated for 12:30 p.m., a full 90 minutes earlier than originally scheduled.

A decision about whether to host the first round playoff game on Oct. 26 or relocate that game to a neutral location is expected to be made by Tuesday, Oct. 22. Updates will be posted to the Transcript website, http://www.newrockfordtranscript.com, and our Facebook page.