By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

ALTOONA – The Spencer/Columbus football team piled up 487 total yards and scored four unanswered touchdowns to start the game on its way to a 46-18 rout of Altoona in a Cloverbelt Conference matchup Friday night at Altoona High School.

The Rockets charged out to a 28-0 lead and never looked back, cruising to the win and clinching a WIAA playoff spot in the process.

Spencer/Columbus is now 5-2 overall and in the Cloverbelt Conference. Altoona drops to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Playing without running backs Tyler Voda, Hunter Hildebrandt and Mitch Susa, others had to step up, and they did in a big way.

Noah Zastrow rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown, and Hunter Luepke had 114 yards on the ground and two scores for the Rockets.

Calvin Lenz threw two touchdown passes – to Luepke and Ryan Busse – and ran for another for Spencer/Columbus.

Zastrow added a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter for the Rockets.

The Rockets play a nonconference game at undefeated Edgar next Friday before wrapping up their regular-season schedule on Oct. 17 at home against Osseo-Fairchild.

Rockets 46, Railroaders 18
Altoona 0 6 0 12 – 18
Spencer/Columbus 16 12 6 12 – 46
First Quarter
SC – Noah Zastrow 43 run (Hunter Luepke run), 4:39.
SC – Ryan Busse 31 pass from Calvin Lenz (Lenz run), 1:16.
Second Quarter
SC – Luepke 26 pass from Lenz (kick missed), 8:45.
SC – Luepke 18 run (kick missed), 3:42.
A – 12 2 run (PAT failed), 1:27.
Third Quarter
SC – Zastrow 70 punt return (kick failed), 4:01.
Fourth Quarter
SC – Lenz 14 run (pass failed), 11:52.
A – Connor Klatt 60 run (run failed), 11:33.
SC – Luepke 16 run (pass failed), 8:19.
A – Will Brahan 44 run (pass failed), 6:41.
Team Statistics
First downs: Spencer/Columbus 22; Altoona 13.
Rushing (att-yards): Spencer/Columbus 46-351; Altoona 42-264.
Passing (comp-att-yards-int): Spencer/Columbus 9-15-136-0; Altoona 4-15-42-1.
Penalties (no.-yards): Spencer/Columbus 6-60; Altoona 2-10.
Fumbles (total-lost): Spencer/Columbus 0-0; Altoona 0-0.
Punting (no.-avg.): Spencer/Columbus 2-27.5; Altoona 6-28.5.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SC, Noah Zastrow 13-155, Hunter Luepke 12-114, Elijah Welsh 9-79, Mitch Susa 1-7, Calvin Lenz 7-2, Austin Post 1-minus 1, James Endres 1-minus 2, Jon Bauer 1-minus 3. A, Connor Olson 21-83, Connor Klatt 6-79, Will Brahan 4-75, Hunter Bowman 4-16, Tyler Hauge 2-9, Trent Peterson 3-5, No. 22 (no name provided) 1-0, Wes Boyarski 1-minus 3.
Passing: SC, Lenz 9-15-136-0. A, Micah Burch 4-15-42-1.
Receiving: SC, Ryan Busse 3-54, Luepke 3-54, Matthias Goiin 2-22, Welsh 1-6. A, Brandon Wekkin 2-23, Tyler Weltzin 1-12, Olson 1-7.
Interceptions (defense): SC, Lenz.
Punting: SC, Busse 1-36.0, Dan Wilke 1-19.0. A, Klatt 6-28.5.
Records: Spencer/Columbus 5-2 overall and Cloverbelt Conference; Altoona 2-5, 2-4 Cloverbelt Conference.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of  MarshfieldAreaSports.com).