ROCHELLE — Hub senior Greg Ricketts deflected Yorkville quarterback Josh Beetham’s pass early in the first quarter of Rochelle’s varsity football game against the Foxes on Friday.

The ball floated toward the hands of Rochelle senior Noah Knight, who intercepted the pass and ran the ball deep into Yorkville territory. Knight then scored on a 6-yard touchdown rush soon after, but the Foxes controlled nearly the entire game after that, scoring 41 unanswered points to down Rochelle by a final score of 41-7 and drop the Hubs to 3-3 overall.

“I thought our kids played really hard,” head coach Kyle Kissack said. “We played a great first half of football. Yorkville’s a good team, and I thought the first half played out just about how we thought it would. Our defense rallied to the football, and I thought we tackled well.”

Beetham bounced back from his interception by tossing a 44-yard touchdown pass to leading wide receiver Nico Medrano and tying the game 7-7 with 8:28 in the first quarter. The Hubs nearly took the lead in the second quarter, but senior quarterback Andrew Johnson was intercepted by Yorkville’s Joe Roberts at the goal line.

Rochelle responded with a forced turnover of its own, though, as junior Ethan Etes picked off Beetham over the middle of the field to give the Hubs possession again. Rochelle was unable to get much going on the ground, however, and after punting the ball away, Yorkville scored just before halftime on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Beetham to running back Toran Harris.

Yorkville led 14-7 at halftime, and the Foxes scored immediately after the start of the third quarter when Cameron Caldwell intercepted Johnson’s pass to the right sideline and ran the ball back 30 yards for a Yorkville touchdown. Another Rochelle punt led to point for Yorkville when Brady Fisher scored on a 4-yard touchdown rush with 2:20 to play in the third quarter.

“They got a couple of quick scores on us in the second half and we had a few guys banged up,” Kissack said. “But I’m proud of the effort from our kids tonight. They played hard.”

The Hubs lost key playmakers Knight and senior Eddie Villalobos to injuries in the second half, and the depleted Rochelle offense struggled to move the ball forward. Knight led Rochelle with 55 yards on eight carries, while the Foxes held Villalobos to 17 yards on 10 carries. Sophomore Ben Harvey gave Rochelle a late spark in the fourth quarter with 31 yards on three carries.

Leading 27-7 entering the fourth quarter, Yorkville’s Tre Thomas scored two rushing touchdowns, one from 15 yards away and another from 85 yards out, to give the Foxes a 34-point advantage. Yorkville, which also added an interception in the second half, qualified for at-large playoff eligibility with the victory.

Knight totaled 19 receiving yards while Villalobos added 15 for Rochelle. Villalobos led the defense with 11 tackles, and senior Larry Beck added seven tackles. The Hubs will look to regroup when Rochelle hosts Sterling for Senior Night on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. Rochelle need to finish 2-1 over their final three games to meet at-large playoff qualifications.

“We have a very resilient group of kids and they’re aware of the situation we’re in,” Kissack said. “They know that this season isn’t over.”

The Rochelle sophomore football team dropped to 4-2 on the season with a 24-8 loss against Yorkville on Friday. The Rochelle freshman football team suffered its first loss of the season against LaSalle-Peru on Monday, losing by a score of 20-6 to move to 2-1 overall. Owen Angell scored the lone touchdown for Rochelle’s freshman team, which will play at Yorkville on Monday, Oct. 1 at 5:30 p.m.