Easton Benz (81), Bennett Meier (11)/Photo courtesy of New Rockford Transcript
NEW ROCKFORD — The Rockets experienced something on Saturday that they hadn’t all year: a deficit.
“Looking at our kids in the eyes,” head coach Elliott Belquist said, “they didn’t seem bothered by it.”
No. 7-seeded Grant County/Flasher (6-4, 5-0) let No. 2-seeded New Rockford-Sheyenne/Maddock (10-0, 4-0) know it meant business. The Storm started Saturday’s nine-man quarterfinal game with a touchdown, and were within five yards of making it a barnburner in the second quarter, the Rockets leading 22-12.
Bennett Meier had other ideas.
“They came out and they punched in the mouth,” Meier said. “We’re not really used to that.”
With GC/F facing a critical fourth-and-three situation, Meier picked it off in the end zone. He navigated through a cluster of defenders and took it to the house, raising his arms in triumph as he completed a 100-yard pick-six.
“I just saw the ball kind of lobbed in the air,” Meier said. “Decided to go get it, and had some good blockers out front, so just kept on going.”
Just like that, the Rockets were in more familiar territory, with a 30-12 lead. In the first half, the Storm gave this dominant NR-S/M team a tighter run for its money than any opponent has this season. But the Rockets eventually separated themselves in the second half and won 54-18, bringing them to a nine-man semifinal game for the second straight year. They’ll play a fellow undefeated team, No. 3 Westhope/Newburg/Glenburn.
The Rockets lost in the semifinal last year, 32-28. They won the state title back in 2012.
“It’s hard to get here twice in a row,” Belquist said. “That’s what I said after the game to the kids. It’s hard to get here. And they stuck together… Give ourselves a shot to get to the [Fargo]dome. That’s the goal, and we have an opportunity now.”
Easton Simon had six touchdown passes, including two to Easton Benz and a 72-yarder to Meier. Carter Engebretson unofficially ran for 155 yards and recorded two sacks on defense.
The Storm moved the ball 80 yards on the game’s opening drive. Runs of 12 and 22 yards got the ball across midfield, and GC/F found a wide opening for a 26-yard touchdown pass.
The two-point attempt was no good. But for the first time all fall, the Rockets had to fight from behind 6-0.
NR-S/M’s offense responded by doing what it does best, despite an initial holding penalty. Simon completed a 13-yard pass to Kage Walford, and Engebretson ran for 20 yards over the span of two plays. Passes to Benz and Walford got the Rockets into the red zone, and Engebretson carried it 12 yards into the end zone. Their two-point attempt was also unsuccessful, so it was a 6-6 tie.
Engebretson recorded back-to-back sacks on the next drive, combining with Colton Green for the second one, to force a punt on fourth and 21. NR-S/M took just two plays to take its first lead, as Simon completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Benz. Engebretson caught the two-point pass, and the Rockets led 14-6.
The Storm executed another big play on their next drive, this time a 49-yard run. Meier picked it off — his first of two eventual interceptions — but Simon himself got intercepted only two plays later.
GC/F had the ball back on the Rockets’ nine-yard line. A roughing-the-passer penalty bailed the Storm out on third down, and Jason Weinberger ran eight yards for a touchdown.
The two-point was unsuccessful, keeping NR-S/M narrowly in the lead. But at the end of the first quarter, the Rockets were only up by the skin of their teeth, 14-12.
“They’ve got great linemen,” Belquist said. “They’re a good team. A good, physical team. We know we’re not gonna do what we did to everyone in the regular season, and there’s gonna be adversity to fight.”
The Rockets opened the second quarter with a touchdown and converted the two-point to make it 22-12. Engebretson ran for 32 yards over three plays, and Walford caught a screen pass and got in the end zone for a 27-yard play.
Still, the Storm weren’t done. They executed a trick play on a backwards pass to Brody Froelich, who threw a whopping 45-yard pass downfield. GC/F got the ball inside the five, and after a tackle by Bradyn Collier just short of the goal line, it was fourth down and three yards to go.
Enter Meier.
His 100-yard pick-six killed the Storm’s dreams of making it a single-digit deficit. After Benz picked up his second two-point conversion, it was a 30-12 Rockets lead.
“That’s how you spark the momentum, on plays like that,” Belquist said. “After that, things kind of went our way.”
GC/F fumbled the resulting kickoff, and NR-S/M recovered it. But astoundingly, just two plays later, the Rockets fumbled the ball, and the Storm got it back at the Rockets’ 41.
Another penalty bit NR-S/M, as encroachment helped out the Storm on third down. The Rockets tallied 10 penalties on the afternoon.
“A couple ones were just our fault on alignment,” Belquist said. “We’ve gotta clean it up. There’s holding and stuff like that going both ways, and we happened to get caught more today than the other team, I guess. We’ve just gotta talk about it and see where it happened.”
GC/F’s drive was still stopped short, with a catch just inches short of the first-down marker on fourth down.
The Rockets went three and out before getting the ball back on a Benz interception. It was the fourth turnover by GC/F, bringing an end to the first half.
Though the Rockets led by 18, it was easily the most competitive half of football they’ve played this year.
The second half went a lot smoother for NR-S/M. It started with a 72-yard touchdown run by Meier to make it 38-12.
“Anybody can make the big play,” Meier said. “Doesn’t matter who it is.”
Another Rocket interception led to their sixth touchdown, this time on a 57-yard run by Walford. Benz got his third two-point conversion as the Rockets went into the fourth quarter with a 46-12 lead and a running clock.
Engebretson ran for 33 more yards over three plays, leading to a five-yard touchdown pass to Collier. It was Simon’s sixth touchdown pass, making it a 54-12 rout.
GC/F scored on its final possession with mere seconds left on the clock. It technically gave the Storm their only points of the second half, though both teams had long since conceded the final result by then. The Rockets completed this win the way they’d done so many times previously, getting to stand around and wait for time to officially dictate their victory.
“The kids just get a feel for the game,” Belquist said of the second half. “Get a feel for how fast they are, how strong they are. The little adjustments they need to make on their angles to different run plays. We were able to stop some of their pass plays, and they just buckled down.”
The Rockets will be back on this field for the last time on Saturday to host W/N/G. The Sioux have had a similar season as NR-S/M, with a host of luxurious victories. They’re led by NDSU-committed quarterback Walker Braaten.
“All the focus needs to be on him,” Belquist said. “They’re a solid program. They’ve got good people all around, and we’re gonna have to put our work in this week to figure out what works, or what we think is gonna work to try to slow ‘em down. You’re not gonna stop a team like that.”
The Rockets and Sioux will face off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The winner goes to the Fargodome for the nine-man title game on Nov. 15.
