Rockets dominate 'chucks

The New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock (NR-S/M) Rockets kicked off their season with a bang on Friday, Aug. 23.

NR-S/M traveled to St. John to take on the Woodchucks for their season opener, and last year's 9-man semi-finalists looked every bit as dominant as they did a year ago.

However, they'll be hoping their first play of the season isn't a bad omen for the rest of their year.

The Rockets were set to receive the opening kickoff and start the game on offense, but a fumble on the return gave possession immediately to the Woodchucks. Thankfully for NR-S/M, however, that play would turn out to be close to the only momentum St. John had all night.

On their subsequent drive, St. John couldn't manage a single positive play against the Rockets' defense, and ended up punting from 9 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Then the Rockets, and in particular Carter Engebretson, could finally get their season started off on the right foot.

On their first offensive play from scrimmage this season, quarterback Easton Simon lined up in the shotgun and handed the ball off to Engebretson, who sprinted through a wide-open gap and continued untouched for 70 yards until scoring the touchdown.

And with that, the tone was set for how the rest of the evening would play out.

St. John suffered a second straight 3-and-out on their next drive, and it wasn't long before Engebretson was sprinting into their end-zone yet again.

On a 3rd-and-2 from St. John's 41-yard-line, Engebretson found another wide-open gap and scored his second touchdown of the evening, bringing the score to 14-0 with more than five minutes still left in the first quarter.

St. John again suffered a 3-and-out immediately after, and after three offensive possessions had not earned a single positive yard.

And then it was Easton Simon's turn to join in the fun.

A pass to Easton Benz on their first play of the drive got NR-S/M to the 7-yard-line, and on the very next play a well-executed route by Kage Walford led to Simon's first touchdown pass of the season.

With 2:30 left in the first quarter, the Rockets had run just six offensive plays from scrimmage. Three were touchdowns. Meanwhile, the defense hadn't allowed St. John a single positive yard.

Even a lengthy power outage mid-game couldn't slow down the Rockets' dominance, and by the end of halftime, NR-S/M was up by a score of 54-0.

The second half was more of the same, and at some point the game clock was mercifully allowed to continue running. The final buzzer eventually sounded with the scoreboard showing Guest 69, St. John 0.

Good teams beat the opponents they're supposed to, and the heavily-favored Rockets did exactly that against the Woodchucks.

On Monday, Aug. 26, the junior high and junior varsity Rockets traveled back to St. John to compete in their season opener.

The junior high team won 26-14, as well as the junior varsity team 22-12.

On Friday, Aug. 30, the Rockets traveled to Cavalier to take on the Tornadoes. Results from this game will be included in the September 9 edition of the New Rockford Transcript.

9-Man

Non Region Football

NR-S/M 69, St. John 0

Friday, Aug. 23

at St. John

First Quarter:

NR-S/M: Carter Engebretson 70-yard run (Easton Benz pass from Easton Simon for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: C. Engebretson 41-yard run (failed two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Kage Walford 6-yard pass from Simon (C. Engebretson run for two-point conversion)

Second Quarter:

NR-S/M: C. Engebretson 6-yard run (Benz pass from Simon for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Simon 35-yard run (Bradyn Collier run for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Bennett Meier 28-yard pass from Simon (C. Engebretson run for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: 37-yard punt return (two-point conversion good)

Third Quarter:

NR-S/M: Simon 8-yard run (Meier pass from Simon for two-point conversion)

Fourth Quarter:

NR-S/M: Grant Engebretson 26-yard pass from Simon (C. Engebretson kicks)

NR-S/M Stats:

Passing: Simon 6-of-8, 104 yards, 3 TD.

Rushing: C. Engebretson 149 yards, 3 TD; Simon 43 yards, 2 TD; Jackson Schumacher 33 yards; Collier 4 yards.

Receiving: Meier 1 reception, 28 yards, 1 TD; Collier 1 reception, 26 yards; G. Engebretson 1 reception, 26 yards, 1 TD; Benz 1 reception, 14 yards; Walford 1 reception, 6 yards, 1 TD; Porter Granger 1 reception, 4 yards.

Tackles (unassisted-assisted): Walford (5-1), 3 TFL; C. Engebretson (4-0), 3 TFL; Alex Weisenburger (4-1), 2 TFL; Layton Jacobson (4-0), 1 TFL; Colton Green (3-1); Schumacher (2-0); G. Engebretson (1-0); Benz (1-1), 1 TFL; Kailar Jacobson (1-1), 1 TFL; Aaden Benson (1-1); Aiden Rodriguez (1-0); Brody Weisenburger (0-2); Chaztin Wobbema (0-1); Lucas Laducer (0-1)

Sacks: A. Weisenburger (2), C. Engebretson (2), Walford (1).