Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Bennett Meier tried to outrun North Border defender Grant Cosley.
Trevor Waldo reaches up to attempt to intercept a pass to North Border receiver Ayden Stainbrook.
With the loss, two NR-S seniors ended their high school football careers. Senior Night was held Friday, Sept. 30. Shown here are Trevor Waldo (1) and Haydon Meier (0) with their parents.
On Saturday, Oct. 15, the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets took on the North Border Eagles in a first round playoff matchup.
As the lower seed, NR-S had to endure the long drive to Pembina for the game, which is less than five miles from the Canadian border.
And unfortunately for the Rockets, the ride home may have felt even longer, after having just been defeated and seeing their season come to a close.
Laden with injuries, the Rockets were incapable of moving the ball offensively for much of the afternoon. What hurt them most in this game, however, was turnovers.
The Eagles scored four touchdowns in the first half, all but one of which came thanks to a Rocket turnover. A particularly deflating moment occurred in the second quarter when Rockets' freshman quarterback Easton Simon threw a pick-6 deep in his own territory.
The wind was whipping around Saturday afternoon, which was no doubt impacting the passing game for both sides.
Nevertheless, just before halftime, NR-S was finally able to put together a drive and score a touchdown, largely thanks to a pair of excellent throws from Simon and great catches by Bennett Meier and Bradyn Collier.
In the third quarter, NR-S also began to step up defensively, stringing together a number of stops and even scoring a safety.
The offense, though, was unable to capitalize and the defense couldn't hold forever.
The Eagles piled on as a result, and the score soon became even more lopsided. North Border scored another 14 points in the second half while the Rockets scored just two, bringing the final tally to 42-8 in the Eagles' favor
The loss brings an end to what was a turbulent season for the Rockets (2-2 region, 4-5 overall), which at one point in time was looking quite promising. The young Rockets team faced a lot of adversity this season and earned a playoff berth despite it.
North Border, meanwhile, heads to North Prairie to take on the undefeated Cougars.
Stats
NR-S 8, NB 42
Saturday, Oct. 15
at Pembina
NR-S: 0 6 2 0 = 8
NB: 12 16 6 8 = 42
NR-S offensive individual stats not provided.
NR-S defensive individual stats:
Tackling (unassisted, assisted): Kage Walford (5, 2); Brody Weisenburger (1, 6); D.J. Mudgett (1, 1); Keaton Cudworth (3, 0); Kailar Jacobson (3, 2), 1 TFL; Walford (1, 4); Easton Benz (4, 6); Alex Weisenburger (4, 0), 1 TFL; Trevor Waldo (2, 1); Bradyn Collier (5, 0), 1 TFL; L. Laducer (0, 1); Bennett Meier (1, 0); Jackson Schumacher (2, 1); Aaden Benson (1, 0).
