Cougars claw past Rockets in season opener

On a soaking wet field in Rolette, N.D., the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets (0-1, 0-0), kicked off their season bogged down in the mud, falling to the North Prairie Cougars (1-0, 0-0), by a score of 16-6.

With the wind howling and rain pouring, whichever team could dominate the run game would have the best chance of winning. Unfortunately for the Rockets, that meant advantage Cougars as their ground attack routinely left Rockets defenders in the mud.

"We saw at halftime that our linebackers just weren't reading the right thing, they weren't reading the right person," explained Rockets head coach Elliot Belquist. "During the game I thought at times it might have been an effort thing, that we weren't hustling to the ball. But after watching film, the kids played hard, [the Cougars] just made more plays than we did."

The North Prairie offense wasted no time scoring their first touchdown, but stalled multiple drives with self-inflicted penalties, leaving the door open for NR-S to catch up. But the Rocket offense was stagnant. Halfway through the second quarter, a bad snap and a subsequent safety left the Rockets with almost as many negative yards as they had positive.

Then came the lightning. With 2:04 left in the second quarter, a bolt of lightning lit up Rolette and the heavens opened, sending players running for shelter as sheets of rain came pouring down. The game wouldn't be restarted for another 75 minutes, but eventually the half was completed with the Rockets trailing by 10 points.

"The circumstances that we saw on Friday night were definitely something we didn't prepare for," said Belquist. "We had two inches of rain the entire summer, and then all a sudden we have to play through that ... it kind of hurts with what we do, we try to move the ball more in the air, so it definitely wasn't ideal for us."

Nevertheless, the long break seemed to help NR-S get going on offense, as senior Kaden Jensen came up with a 28-yard catch to start the half. The drive stalled inside the redzone, however, giving momentum right back to the Cougars. North Prairie scored their second touchdown later in the third quarter on a 46-yard run from running back Tyrel Yoder, set up by a NR-S turnover.

The Rockets finally got something going when senior Nick Berglund made an impressive touchdown catch in the fourth quarter, set up by a 30-yard catch and run by Berglund a couple of plays earlier. The score was too little too late, however, as the Cougars ran out the clock and handed NR-S a frustrating loss to start the season.

"After watching film, our kids did play hard on defense, they rallied to the ball," said Belquist. "We had some young kids in there and those guys showed that they weren't scared ... They played hard, and we need those young kids to play because we just don't have a lot of upperclassmen right now."

Stats from the game were not available as of press time.

This season, New Rockford-Sheyenne football moved from Region 2 of the 9B football division to Region 3, a bit of a change from years past. The Cavalier Tornadoes, a recent rival of the Rockets, are no longer regional opponents, and the two aren't scheduled to play each other for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Rockets played the Bottineau Braves on Friday, Aug. 27. Bottineau moved down into 9B from 11-Man A Division this year.

The Rockets will begin the search for a new rival when regional play begins on Sept. 10 versus North Star. Other

Region 3 opponents include Benson County, Four Winds and Nelson County.