Rockets crush Bearcats in Maddock

It's Homecoming Week, and the New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock Rockets – now tied for No. 1 in the state – kept the good vibes going with their most dominant victory yet Tuesday evening.

Homecoming is being celebrated by both New Rockford-Sheyenne and Maddock Public School this week, and the Rockets were in Maddock on Tuesday for the first of two games this week.

As expected, the undefeated Rockets took care of business against the first of their two opponents: the winless North Star Bearcats.

Not for the first time this season, Tuesday's game began with a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage.

After a great kick return from Thomas Allmaras set up NR-S/M with good field position, Carter Engebretson capitalized with a 44-yard touchdown run the very next play.

The Rockets converted on their 2-point attempt, and opened an 8-0 lead just 20 seconds into the game.

Believe it or not, that lead would more than double within the next 40 seconds.

A mishandled snap on third down resulted in a fumble on the Bearcats' opening drive, which was scooped up by Kage Walford and taken into the end zone for a defensive touchdown.

Seconds later, as North Star was back on offense for their second drive, NR-S junior Easton Benz blitzed the quarterback and sacked him in the end zone for a safety.

So, NR-S/M had already opened an 18-point lead over North Star just 58 seconds after the opening kickoff, and the pace of scoring hardly slowed down from there.

On the Rockets' next drive, a third-down screen pass ended in yet another Engebretson touchdown followed by a quick 2-point conversion, bringing the score to 26-0 with 10:39 still remaining in the first quarter.

Even more touchdowns from Engebretson and Benz were scored soon after, and in the blink of an eye the first quarter had ended with NR-S/M leading 42-0.

By that point, the clock operator was already letting the minutes tick away, as the remaining time was merely in the way of what everyone knew would be another dominant Rockets' victory.

The first half ultimately came to an end with a score of 63-0, and the junior varsity crew took over from there.

The final result was a crushing 69-6 victory for the Rockets, bringing their regular season record to 7-0.

The Rockets had entered Tuesday's game knowing they'd already secured the Region 3 Championship and a first round bye in the playoffs, and they have just one regular season game to go if they want to secure a perfect regular season record for the second straight season.

Tomorrow – on Friday, Oct. 11 – they'll return to New Rockford for their second game this week and their final game of the regular season, where they'll face the Hatton/Northwood Thunder (1-5) at 7 p.m.

NR-S/M will be heavily favored in that game as well, and they're likely to end this regular season having not played a single close or competitive game.

Consequently, there's some concern about how NR-S/M might handle tougher opponents come playoff time, and Rockets head coach Elliott Belquist said they're doing what they can to get themselves ready.

"That's something we talk about a lot, that our conditioning has to be good and we just try to prepare mentally and physically," said Belquist. "We get after kids to not look at records so much and we have to just come out and play our game defensively and offensively.

"These kids want to play into the third and fourth quarter, but they know we can't," he added. "We just need to hope that the benefits of resting kids is going to outweigh them not playing for all four quarters every week."

Non Region

9-Man Football

NR-S/M 69, North Star 6

Tuesday, Oct. 8

in Maddock

First Quarter:

NR-S/M: Carter Engebretson 45-yard run (Easton Benz pass from Easton Simon for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Kage Walford 13-yard fumble return (two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Benz safety

NR-S/M: C. Engebretson 46-yard pass from Simon (Paxton Neppl pass from Simon for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: C. Engebretson 20-yard run (Benz pass from Simon for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Benz 20-yard pass from Simon (C. Engebretson run for two-point conversion)

Second Quarter:

NR-S/M: Grant Engebretson 31-yard pass from Simon (Bradyn Collier run for two-point conversion)

NR-S/M: Jackson Schumacher 5-yard run (kick no good)

NR-S/M: Thomas Allmaras 20-yard interception return (kick)

Third Quarter:

NR-S/M: Collier 10-yard run (failed two-point conversion)

Fourth Quarter:

North Star: 14-yard pass (failed two-point conversion)

NR-S/M Individual Stats

Passing: Simon 7-for-10, 133 yards, 3 TD; Jax Demester 3-for-5, 20 yards

Rushing: C. Engebretson 65 yards, 2 TD; Schumacher 33 yards, 1 TD; Collier 23 yards, 1 TD; Demester 5 yards

Receiving: G. Engebretson 4 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TD; C. Engebretson 1 reception, 46 yards, 1 TD; Benz 2 receptions, 33 yards, 1 TD; Neppl 1 reception, 7 yards; Koy Zieman 1 reception, 5 yards; Bennett Meier 1 reception, 1 yard

Tackles (unassisted-assisted): Collier (2-2); C. Engebretson (2-0), 1 TFL, 1 sack; Kailar Jacobson (2-1), 2 TFL, 1 sack; Brody Weisenburger (2-0), 1 TFL; Schumacher (1-2); G. Engebretson (1-0); Benz (1-0), 1 TFL, 1 sack; Neppl (1-0); Meier (1-0); Alex Weisenburger (1-1), 1 TFL, 1 sack; Walford (0-3); Allmaras (0-1); Colton Green (0-1); Malaki Kukowski (0-1)

Interceptions: Neppl 1, Allmaras 1

Safety: Benz 1

Photos from Friday night's game are available here! G & R Grain and Feed is our gallery sponsor.