Late rally falls just short for eighth-graders

Rochelle falls to Morrison 20-19

Russell Hodges
Posted 8/13/17

With just seconds remaining in their season-opening football game against Morrison this past Saturday, the Rochelle Junior Tackle eighth-graders took the field at Helms Park for one final shot at the end zone.

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Late rally falls just short for eighth-graders

Rochelle falls to Morrison 20-19

Posted

ROCHELLE — With just seconds remaining in their season-opening football game against Morrison this past Saturday, the Rochelle Junior Tackle eighth-graders took the field at Helms Park for one final shot at the end zone.

Trailing by one point, the Junior Hubs snapped the ball to quarterback Josh Lloyd, who fired a deep ball toward the goal line for running back Eric Briseno. But Lloyd’s pass was intercepted around Morrison’s 10-yard line, and the visitors ran the clock out to defeat Rochelle by a final score of 20-19.

“We played a lot harder in the second half,” head coach Ben Manning said. “We just came up a little bit short… The kids played hard but we have a lot to work on… We made a couple of mental mistakes on defense in the first half that allowed them to score and set the tone for their offense.”

Owen Angell broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and Marco Castro’s extra point put Rochelle up 7-0 over Morrison. But despite a sack by Grant Messer on Morrison’s first drive, the visitors struck back with a score of their own to cut the Junior Hubs’ lead to 7-6.

Lloyd connected with Briseno on a 23-yard touchdown pass for Rochelle’s second touchdown of the game, and Morrison responded once again with a score and a 2-point conversion to take a 14-13 lead at halftime. Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter.

“Owen ran really hard,” Manning said. “Our running backs aren’t getting blocks at the second level right now and that’s what we’re going to focus on next week. Our offensive line did a nice job for the most part, but we have a lot to clean up as a whole.”

Morrison and Rochelle each scored once in the fourth quarter, with Angell finding the end zone on a 7-yard rush to bring the Junior Hubs within one point, 20-19. Rochelle forced a turnover on Morrison’s next possession after Tanner Lager stripped a Morrison rusher and recovered the loose football.

Rochelle needed to march 87 yards down the field for the win, and despite a valiant effort to get the ball into Morrison territory, the Junior Hub rally came up just short. The eighth-graders fell to 0-1 with the loss, but the boys will receive a forfeit from Rockton this coming weekend to improve to 1-1 overall. Rochelle’s next game is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 26 against Winnebago.