Taming bearcats

When the New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock Rockets weren't busy expelling their stomach contents on Friday, Aug. 18, they were playing great football against the North Star Bearcats.

It was only the Rockets' first game of 2023, but if their performance that night was anything to go on, it appears they'll have a good chance of meeting their lofty expectations this year.

Since Friday's game, many have come to lovingly refer to the Rockets' season opener as "Puke Bowl," after seemingly every other snap saw someone vomiting on the field in Leeds, N.D.

With temperatures in the low 80s and humidity approaching 90 percent, it was far from a pleasant evening for football. And those conditions, coupled with high school athletes that perhaps weren't in the best shape yet, made for a retch-ed evening.

But that didn't stop NR-S/M from putting together a solid outing and heading home with an important victory.

Last season, North Star handily defeated the Rockets and later advanced to round two of the 9-man football playoffs. But that was before New Rockford-Sheyenne began their football co-op with Maddock Public School.

The co-op agreement has infused the Rockets with a wide range of talented upperclassmen, and their overall roster has swelled to 40 players.

Rockets' head coach Elliott Belquist knew before the season his squad would have a numbers advantage over most teams this year, and he wasted no time taking full advantage.

North Star kept the game close throughout the first half, but as the game dragged on the Bearcats' starters became increasingly exhausted. And by the fourth quarter, their players could be seen hunched over during most huddles, taking every chance they could to catch a breath or two.

Meanwhile, the Rockets were still able to hustle whenever a substitution was called for, and their starters weren't just being substituted by inexperienced freshmen, as seen in years prior.

Instead, the worn-down Bearcats could only watch as a steady stream of fresh, experienced upperclassmen faced them on every snap.

"[Maddock] has some very good players, and when you put that with our kids I think that's eight, nine, 10 more upperclassmen," said Belquist. "That's huge in football when you don't have to have freshmen on the field and you can sub in other juniors and seniors."

On offense, the Rockets were about as diverse as it gets, spreading the ball around to just about all of their playmakers.

Connor Knatterud, Carter Engebretson, Logan Fossen, Easton Benz and Logan Maddock all earned one or more stellar touchdowns on offense – and Knatterud also earned an impressive kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half.

Meanwhile, Rockets' quarterback Easton Simon threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns, while giving up zero interceptions and boasting a 78.6 completion percentage.

The Rockets amassed 58 points by the end of regulation, leaving little doubt that their offense is stacked with talent and potential.

On defense, however, the Rockets will strive to improve their pass defense as the season progresses.

The Bearcats' senior quarterback, Dane Hagler, torched the Rockets' secondary for much of the evening, going 24-of-45 for 5 touchdowns and 445 passing yards.

Rockets' assistant coach Reed Weisenburger could be heard encouraging his defense to pressure the quarterback, but even when the pass rush could apply pressure, Hagler simply scrambled from the pocket and seemed plenty comfortable doing so.

With Hagler dropping back and with fast receivers downfield, the Bearcats were able to keep the game too close for the Rockets' comfort.

"I feel like our kids executed and were fairly dominant most of the game," said Belquist. "We held the running game in check, but they have a heck of a quarterback who threw some great balls and they've got good receivers, so they made some plays."

But even though they persistently kept within striking distance, North Star could never quite pull the trigger on a comeback, and ultimately fell to the Rockets by a final score of 58-42.

Defensive standouts for the Rockets included Kage Walford, who led the team in tackles with five; Logan Maddock, who earned four tackles and three assists; and Cole Knudson, who got two sacks and two tackles for loss.

As for what they'll focus on moving forward, Belquist said there were a few penalties and mistakes that need cleaning up, as well as some organizational challenges with having to manage so many players on the sideline.

"And then our conditioning wasn't the greatest, which we maybe took for granted a little bit because we knew we could rotate guys in," he added.

The Rockets' next game will be played in New Rockford at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1 against the Larimore Polar Bears, another Region 2 opponent. Larimore lost their first game of the season to Four Winds/Minnewaukan by a score of 12-42.

Meanwhile, the Rockets' junior varsity and junior high teams also won their first games of the season. The JV team dominated St. John at Maddock on Monday, Aug. 21 by a score of 52-8, and the JH team won their game against St. John 18-6.

9-Man

Region 2 Football

NR-S/M 58, North Star 42

Friday, August 18

at Leeds

First Quarter:

NS: 26-yard pass (failed two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Logan Fossen 1-yard run (Connor Knatterud for two-point conversion)

Second Quarter:

NR-S/M: Knatterud 5-yard run (failed two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Knatterud 31-yard pass from Easton Simon (failed two-point conversion)

NS: 5-yard run (failed two-point conversion)

NS: 31-yard pass (two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Easton Benz 54-yard pass from Simon (Logan Maddock run for two-point conversion)

Third quarter:

NR-S/M: Knatterud 75-yard kickoff return (Benz pass from Simon for two-point conversion)

NS: 15-yard pass (two point conversion)

NR-S/M: Carter Engebretson 6-yard run (Bradyn Collier run for two-point conversion)

Fourth quarter:

NR-S/M: Fossen 42-yard pass from Simon (failed two-point conversion)

NS: 71-yard pass (failed two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Maddock 65-yard pass from Simon (Simon run for two-point conversion)

NS: 10-yard pass (two-point conversion)

NR-S/M Stats:

Passing: Simon 11-of-14, 295 yards, 4 TD.

Rushing: Engebretson 4 attempts, 84 yards, 1 TD; Collier 5 attempts, 51 yards; Knatterud 8 attempts, 40 yards, 1 TD; Maddock 6 attempts, 30 yards; Fossen 2 attempts, 2 yards, 1 TD; Simon 2 attempts, -14 yards.

Receiving: Knatterud 3 receptions, 111 yards, 1 TD; Maddock 2 receptions, 74 yards, 1 TD; Benz 1 reception, 54 yards, 1 TD; Fossen 3 receptions, 53 yards, 1 TD; Macyn Olson 1 reception, 6 yards; Lucas Yri 1 reception, -3 yards.

Tackles: (unassisted-assisted): Kage Walford (5-2); Maddock (4-3); Olson (4-1); Collier (3-1); Fossen (3-1); Alex Weisenburger (2-5), 1 TFL; Cole Knudson (2-5), 2 TFL; Kailar Jacobson (2-1); Bennett Meier (2-0); Benz (1-4), 1 TFL; Yri (1-0); DJ Mudgett (1-2), 1 TFL; Keaton Cudworth (1-1); Brody Weisenburger (1-0), 1 TFL; Knatterud (0-1); Engebretson (0-3). Sacks: Knudson (2).