|
Rockets Battle Hard But Jets Stay Unbeaten, 76-18
 POWERS---The Rapid River Rockets hung with the North Central Jets for a while Thursday night, but the defending state champions had too much firepower and eventually rolled to a 76-18 win in Powers. The Rockets did some good things early with quarterback Mason Berglund chewing up yardage, but the Jets took over and gradually pulled away to earn the victory. "We didn't come out playing hard enough, and that's not like us," NCA senior quarterback Jason Whitens said. "They're a good team. They came to play. We just stepped up and the guys who usually make the plays finally did." "They came to play," NCA Coach Kevin Bellefeuil agreed. "In that first quarter, their offensive line and defensive line manhandled us. They had a lot of enthusiasm."  Berglund rushed up the middle of the field for a 20-yard touchdown, tying the game at 6-6. The Rockets then pulled a surprise, recovering the onside kick. And Berglund kept running hard, with three first downs on a drive inside the ten yard line. On fourth and four, however, Zach Estrada shed his block and tackled Berglund as he tried to get outside for the touchdown. And after a long run, the Jets struck quick again, with Whitens going the final four yards for a touchdown to regain the lead. The two-point run make it a 14-6 game with 5:07 left in the first. The Jets made some adjustments, and the Rocket offense continued to sputter. And the punt toward the sideline was gathered in by Whitens, and he took it to the house. The touchdown made it 20-6, and the Jets tacked on the two-point conversion, making it 22-6. Rapid River, however, did not go away. Beglund engineered a nice drive up field, with a short pass to Logan Hardwick and a 25-yard strike to Austin Wicklund up the middle of the field. That juggling catch put the ball in the red zone, and Berglund found Hardwick in the end zone near the sideline with a high touchdown pass. Rapid River was within 22-12.  "I was just making the plays off of what the other guys were doing," Kleiman said. "I mean, they are making the blocks and when they do that, I just start running for touchdowns. Our line dominated." "But Rapid came to play. I give their coach a lot of credit. They played hard." "(Coach) Scott and I gave them a few words of encouragement," Bellefeuil said. "We didn't make any changes. We just had to do things a little better. And we did. When you get our great athletes in the open field, good things happen." Those good things kept happening for the Jets, who scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter. First, it was Whitens to Dylan Gagne. Then, it was Whitens to Tyler Bentley. That was a 33-yard touchdown pass. Going into the locker room, the Jets led, 54-12. In the third quarter, Bentley would catch another touchdown pass from Whitens. This one went 51 yards, and after another suvvessful two-point conversion, NCA had a 62-12 lead.  Rapid River's final score came in the third quarter as Berglund connected with Hardwick again, this time 17 yards out to make it 62-18. The Jets scored the final two touchdowns, as Whitens broke free for a 51-yard run to make it 68-18, and then Hunter Ridley had a six-yard TD run. While NCA improved to 8-0 on the season, Rapid River fell to 5-3. Even with a win at Ewen Trout-Creek next Friday, the Rockets will likely miss the 16-team Eight-Man playoff field, despite a possible 6-3 record. The Jets will play at home for at least the first two rounds. Before the playoffs begin, the Jets will have a war with the 6-2 Stephenson Eagles. The game next Friday will be broadcast live on WUPF-FM Eagle 107.3, and at radioresultsnetwork.com. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and video highlights from Thursday night's game.  |
