History in the Waiting
Rock Falls Outlasts Rockridge 24-15 to be Playoff Eligible at 5-4 ...
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
ROCK FALLS (Oct. 23) - Year after year the playoffs for the Rock Falls Rockets have
come close to being a reality, only to let it slip away in the latter part of the season.
The Rockets were not going to let that happen against Rockridge.
They did not let a three-point lead slip away late in the game, either. Key defensive
stops in the Rocket red zone prevented a go-ahead score by Rockridge, and led to a
79-yard touchdown by Tyler Barnes to seal a 24-15 Rock Falls win. The win increases
their record to 5-4 to cap the regular season.
While leading 18-15 with a minute-and-a-half left in the game, Rockridge (2-7) began a
string of six straight drives in the same direction for a total gain of thirty yards. Closing
in on the end zone, Rockridge set up a pass play on third-and-eight at the Rocket 17 to
Dylan Rowe at the left-side pylon. Defensive back Dylan Koeppen provided the
coverage on Rowe and got his hand on the ball to block the completion.
“I saw him trying to get the ball, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get my hands on
it, so I just hit it as hard as I could, making sure he wouldn't bring it down,” said
Koeppen.
Now at fourth-and-eight, Rockridge quarterback Hunter Frakes wanted to look for
another target. Instead, he was sacked by Rocket linebacker Casey McCallister at the
twenty-five after breaking through left tackle. Frakes tried to lateral the ball to any
nearby teammate but to no avail.
“We've had some downs, but our ups have come at the right times,” said Rocket coach
Jay Mammosser. “We did some things at the right times. A kid has the ball in the end
zone, and Koeppen gets a good lick on him and drops it. That's the kind of year it's
been. We just don't quit.”
“We were all just yelling at each other for not letting anyone down,” added Koeppen.
“After we stopped them we knew it was it."
Rock Falls would take over on downs after that, and it took just two plays for Barnes to
score the final touchdown. He led his team with 122 rushing yards.
“I thought I was going to run out of gas before the endzone,” said Barnes. “I'm just glad I
made it. It was awesome.”
Rockridge still had a chance to make a score with 51.9 seconds left in the game. They
passed the ball in four plays to the Rocket 27, where Frakes fumbled the ball into the
hands of lineman Bobby Clapper for the final blow to Rockridge's comeback attempt.
Clapper and Colbey Russell led the Rockets with six tackles each.
“The last home game of the year, and to get a fumble recovery like that, it's awesome,”
said Clapper.
Rock Falls had the first score of the game, coming in their second offensive drive, with
a six-yard run by Barnes with 3:19 left in the first quarter. The extra point was blocked
to make it a 6-0 game. Rockridge would take the lead after a 20-yard touchdown
completion from Frakes to Mike Norris, in which a successful PAT by kicker Aaron
Griggs followed.
Rockridge's lead would last only a couple of plays. Kalib Helms took the first offensive
play three yards to set up a second-and-seven. Koeppen, also the team's quarterback,
completed a straight-line pass to Helms toward his right of the field for an 11-yard play.
It set up a 46-yard Helms touchdown run with 6:48 left in the first half.
The see-saw game came to be when Rockridge's Connor Frakes scored with 3:28 left
in the third quarter to give his team a 15-12 lead. After incomplete passes forced the
next two possessions to turn over, Rock Falls gained 11 yards on five plays before
Helms took off for 52 before being stopped at the Rockridge five-yard line. Taylor
Shepard took the ball in on the next play to go up 18-15.
“We didn't want to make mistakes,” said Koeppen. “We just wanted to execute our
plays. We work very hard in practices and we know we don't have another shot at (the
playoffs).”
Rockridge was led by Brandon Stufflebeam with 70 rushing yards. Hunter Frakes was
4-for-11 in passing for 68 yards.
“I was impressed with the way we came out and competed right away,” said Rockridge
coach Jeremy Adolphson. “We were able to move the ball on the ground the way we
wanted to. We didn't quite make as many hits on the passing game as much as we
wanted to. Rock Falls kept making adjustments, and it was a good chess match back
and forth.”
Having a 5-4 record doesn't necessarily get a team in the playoffs. The Rockets will
have to wait until Saturday night when the IHSA releases the playoff pairings.
“It's awesome. I don't have any other words to describe it,” said Barnes. “It's just
awesome. We've talked about it all year, and to see it come true is just amazing.”
“It's huge. It feels amazing,” said Clapper. “Nobody expected it in the beginning. We all
knew we had hope, and we came out here and now we're 5-4 with a winning record. To
do this in your senior year, to get a winning record and have a chance to make the
playoffs, it's huge. It's awesome.”
Playoff Points notes: Rock Falls needed wins from Peoria Woodruff, Peoria High,
Mendota, IVC, Hall and Kewanee to increase its number of playoff points, which was at
34 before the game. A point was added as a result of the Orion-Princeton game in
which both teams have played against the Rockets this season.
Only one more point was added as a result of their opponents beating a team this
week: IVC defeated Bartonville Limestone. Woodruff fell to Springfield Southeast,
Peoria High fell to East Peoria, Mendota fell to Peoria Richwoods, Hall fell to Champaign
St. Thomas More, and Kewanee fell to Macomb.
Rock Falls has 36 playoff points, which is what the cutoff was at last season.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
ROCK FALLS (Oct. 23) - Year after year the playoffs for the Rock Falls Rockets have
come close to being a reality, only to let it slip away in the latter part of the season.
The Rockets were not going to let that happen against Rockridge.
They did not let a three-point lead slip away late in the game, either. Key defensive
stops in the Rocket red zone prevented a go-ahead score by Rockridge, and led to a
79-yard touchdown by Tyler Barnes to seal a 24-15 Rock Falls win. The win increases
their record to 5-4 to cap the regular season.
While leading 18-15 with a minute-and-a-half left in the game, Rockridge (2-7) began a
string of six straight drives in the same direction for a total gain of thirty yards. Closing
in on the end zone, Rockridge set up a pass play on third-and-eight at the Rocket 17 to
Dylan Rowe at the left-side pylon. Defensive back Dylan Koeppen provided the
coverage on Rowe and got his hand on the ball to block the completion.
“I saw him trying to get the ball, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to get my hands on
it, so I just hit it as hard as I could, making sure he wouldn't bring it down,” said
Koeppen.
Now at fourth-and-eight, Rockridge quarterback Hunter Frakes wanted to look for
another target. Instead, he was sacked by Rocket linebacker Casey McCallister at the
twenty-five after breaking through left tackle. Frakes tried to lateral the ball to any
nearby teammate but to no avail.
“We've had some downs, but our ups have come at the right times,” said Rocket coach
Jay Mammosser. “We did some things at the right times. A kid has the ball in the end
zone, and Koeppen gets a good lick on him and drops it. That's the kind of year it's
been. We just don't quit.”
“We were all just yelling at each other for not letting anyone down,” added Koeppen.
“After we stopped them we knew it was it."
Rock Falls would take over on downs after that, and it took just two plays for Barnes to
score the final touchdown. He led his team with 122 rushing yards.
“I thought I was going to run out of gas before the endzone,” said Barnes. “I'm just glad I
made it. It was awesome.”
Rockridge still had a chance to make a score with 51.9 seconds left in the game. They
passed the ball in four plays to the Rocket 27, where Frakes fumbled the ball into the
hands of lineman Bobby Clapper for the final blow to Rockridge's comeback attempt.
Clapper and Colbey Russell led the Rockets with six tackles each.
“The last home game of the year, and to get a fumble recovery like that, it's awesome,”
said Clapper.
Rock Falls had the first score of the game, coming in their second offensive drive, with
a six-yard run by Barnes with 3:19 left in the first quarter. The extra point was blocked
to make it a 6-0 game. Rockridge would take the lead after a 20-yard touchdown
completion from Frakes to Mike Norris, in which a successful PAT by kicker Aaron
Griggs followed.
Rockridge's lead would last only a couple of plays. Kalib Helms took the first offensive
play three yards to set up a second-and-seven. Koeppen, also the team's quarterback,
completed a straight-line pass to Helms toward his right of the field for an 11-yard play.
It set up a 46-yard Helms touchdown run with 6:48 left in the first half.
The see-saw game came to be when Rockridge's Connor Frakes scored with 3:28 left
in the third quarter to give his team a 15-12 lead. After incomplete passes forced the
next two possessions to turn over, Rock Falls gained 11 yards on five plays before
Helms took off for 52 before being stopped at the Rockridge five-yard line. Taylor
Shepard took the ball in on the next play to go up 18-15.
“We didn't want to make mistakes,” said Koeppen. “We just wanted to execute our
plays. We work very hard in practices and we know we don't have another shot at (the
playoffs).”
Rockridge was led by Brandon Stufflebeam with 70 rushing yards. Hunter Frakes was
4-for-11 in passing for 68 yards.
“I was impressed with the way we came out and competed right away,” said Rockridge
coach Jeremy Adolphson. “We were able to move the ball on the ground the way we
wanted to. We didn't quite make as many hits on the passing game as much as we
wanted to. Rock Falls kept making adjustments, and it was a good chess match back
and forth.”
Having a 5-4 record doesn't necessarily get a team in the playoffs. The Rockets will
have to wait until Saturday night when the IHSA releases the playoff pairings.
“It's awesome. I don't have any other words to describe it,” said Barnes. “It's just
awesome. We've talked about it all year, and to see it come true is just amazing.”
“It's huge. It feels amazing,” said Clapper. “Nobody expected it in the beginning. We all
knew we had hope, and we came out here and now we're 5-4 with a winning record. To
do this in your senior year, to get a winning record and have a chance to make the
playoffs, it's huge. It's awesome.”
Playoff Points notes: Rock Falls needed wins from Peoria Woodruff, Peoria High,
Mendota, IVC, Hall and Kewanee to increase its number of playoff points, which was at
34 before the game. A point was added as a result of the Orion-Princeton game in
which both teams have played against the Rockets this season.
Only one more point was added as a result of their opponents beating a team this
week: IVC defeated Bartonville Limestone. Woodruff fell to Springfield Southeast,
Peoria High fell to East Peoria, Mendota fell to Peoria Richwoods, Hall fell to Champaign
St. Thomas More, and Kewanee fell to Macomb.
Rock Falls has 36 playoff points, which is what the cutoff was at last season.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
| Quick Box at Hinders Field, Rock Falls Rock Falls 24 Rockridge 15 Rock Falls 6 6 0 12 - 24 Rockridge 0 7 8 0 - 15 1st Quarter: RF - Tyler Barnes 6 run (kick failed) 2nd Quarter: RR - Mike Norris 20 pass from Hunter Frakes (kick blocked) RF - Kalib Helms 46 run (conversion failed) 3rd Quarter: RR - Connor Frakes 6 run (conversion good) 4th Quarter: RF - Taylor Shepard 5 run (kick blocked) RF - Barnes 79 run (conversion failed) APY: Rock Falls 315, Rockridge 270 |
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