Rockets off to a hot start

The No. 1 ranked New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock Rockets put their excellence on display Saturday afternoon, with a decisive victory over North Prairie to begin their 2024 playoff run.

Hundreds of Rocket fans turned out to watch the home team host the Cougars – the reigning 9-man football state champions – in the 2nd round of this year's playoffs.

When the Rockets and Cougars faced off in the regular season in early September, the Cougars were ranked No. 2 in the state and many expected them to compete for a second consecutive championship.

However, the Rockets put a damper on those expectations with a 60-14 victory that day, and during their playoff rematch on Saturday, their hopes of a repeat were extinguished entirely.

The Rockets began the game with possession, and if anyone thought they might come out slow after a first-round bye, those thoughts were quickly dashed when Carter Engebretson broke free for a 50-yard scamper on the first play from scrimmage.

A few plays later, on 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line, it was quarterback Easton Simon's turn to announce his presence.

Having to escape pressure and with two defenders chasing him down, Simon threw from his back foot to an uncovered Easton Benz for the touchdown.

It was a scene Rocket fans have become accustomed to these past two seasons, as Simon has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in 9-man football.

He finished the regular season with 32 touchdowns and just three interceptions, and he balled out during Saturday's playoff game as well.

"The guy just stays composed," said Rockets head coach Elliott Belquist about his junior quarterback. "He got hit a few too many times today, but if he can stand tall in the pocket the ball is gonna be on the money. He means a lot to our offense and we know we gotta do a somewhat better job protecting him."

A successful 2-point conversion followed the Rockets' first touchdown, making the score 8-0 just under two minutes into the game, and they were just getting started.

The NR-S/M defense forced a turnover on downs to end the Cougars' first drive – courtesy of a Kage Walford sack on 4th-and-4 – and the offense capitalized with a methodical touchdown drive.

Starting from their opponents' 38-yard line, the Rockets marched the rest of the way with several solid carries by Engebretson and a 4th-down that Simon converted via hard count, getting several North Prairie defenders to jump offsides.

The touchdown drive ended with a pitch to Engebretson from the 3-yard line, and another 2-point conversion brought the score to 16-0 just before the first quarter came to an end.

With the game getting away from them, North Prairie was desperately in need of some positive momentum. Unfortunately for them, the Rockets' defense has been suffocating opposing offenses all season, and they once again came up big on the Cougars' next drive.

On the first play of the second quarter, Easton Benz picked off North Prairie quarterback Jonathan Mears on a deep ball that fell short of its intended target.

On the very next play, Simon launched a deep ball of his own to Kage Walford, who was sprinting down the field with three or four steps on his defender. The pass hit Walford in stride and he waltzed into the end zone for the long score.

Later in the second quarter, the NR-S/M defense came up with yet another turnover – this time a fumble deep inside Cougars' territory – and two plays later a sense of deja vu must have come over the crowd as Simon launched yet another deep ball to a wide open Walford.

Simon had thrown the ball from his back foot with a defender breathing down his neck, but that clearly didn't bother him as the pass once again hit Walford in stride and ended in another touchdown.

"I thought we hit some great long balls today," said Belquist after the game. "We weren't quite sure what they were going to come out with, but they decided to load up the box to stop the run and apply pressure. That made it a little harder to run, so we wanted to hit some long balls and that was good to see. We haven't done that much this year."

It was also a clinic in how great defenses can set up excellent opportunities for their offense, and Belquist credited his interior lineman and linebackers for much of their success.

"They got some big boys up front, and they do a lot of pulling," said Belquist. "and I thought our interior two guys, Brody Weisenburger and Carter Engebretson, did a nice job moving with the pullers and really anchoring down that interior.

"And of course our linebackers have been playing lights out and they did a nice job filling the holes and tackling," he added.

The score was suddenly 30-0 after the Rockets' fourth touchdown, and If the Cougars still had hopes of a late comeback as halftime approached, those hopes were likely dashed when Simon connected with Bennett Meier for a 63-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute before halftime.

Another successful 2-point conversion brought the first half score to 38-0, and once again the Rockets were able to coast to victory in the second half.

The junior varsity squad ultimately took over, and North Prairie managed to finally get on the board late in the game. It was far too little too late, however, as the Rockets eventually closed out the 46-8 playoff victory.

The Rockets can now focus on their quarterfinal matchup next Saturday against the Grant County-Flasher Storm, who are coming off a thrilling upset victory over Central McLean with a last minute touchdown drive.

NR-S/M will be heavy favorites to win that matchup, but so too was Central McLean.

Having now won six games in a row after starting their season 0-3, the Storm will be looking to ride their newfound wave of momentum straight through New Rockford.

"We'll get in the film room," said Belquist about how he'll prepare the team. "We'll have an opponent that we haven't faced yet, so first is just getting in the film room, learning as much as we can about them and then we'll start figuring out how we're going to attack them."

The Rockets will again have home field advantage for the playoff game, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Stats from Saturday's game against North Prairie will be published in the Nov. 4 print edition of the Transcript.