The Rockets keep shooting up.
In the latest nine-man football poll released Wednesday afternoon, New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock was ranked No. 2. The Rockets were previously ranked No. 3.
NR-S/M is 4-0 on the season. Not only that, but it hasn’t won a game by fewer than 30 points. The offense has put up 60 points in each of its last two games. Most recently, the Rockets dismantled Nelson County by a score of 60-0. The week earlier, they won 60-14 against North Prairie, a team that was ranked No. 2 at the time.
North Prairie is not only no longer ranked, but didn’t even receive any votes this week. The Cougars, 3-1, recently won only 32-30 against Cavalier — a team the Rockets beat 44-14. This is the first week this season in which North Prairie hasn’t received any votes.
After the No. 5 Rockets’ win over the No. 2 Cougars on Sept. 6, running back Carter Engebretson said he felt the voters had “screwed” them in the rankings. So far, NR-S/M has backed up that claim very nicely.
The Rockets are still trailing LaMoure-Litchville/Marion, which received 13 of the 18 first-place votes and 75 total points. NR-S/M received two first-place votes and 62 points. No. 3 Westhope/Newburg/Glenburn received the remaining three first-place votes, along with 46 points.
South Prairie and Linton/HMB/S-Z remained in the No. 4 and 5 slots, respectively. All five ranked teams are 4-0 this season.
Over in Division A, meanwhile, Langdon Area/Munich remained unranked for the second straight week despite beating Turtle Mountain 36-6 last week. The Cardinals are 3-1, with their lone loss coming to No. 2 Central Cass. LA/M was ranked as high as No. 2 after its season-opening win.
The Cardinals did still receive at least one vote in this week’s poll. Kindred remained the unanimous No. 1, with all 17 of the first-place votes.
NR-S/M travels to Fort Totten this week for a region contest against the Four Winds Indians (3-1). Both teams are 1-0 so far in region play. The Indians currently sit in second place in Region 3, behind only the Rockets.
LA/M (3-1, 2-0) hosts Rugby (3-1, 2-0) at home on Friday.
