Rockets suffer first loss of season

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

SPENCER — Spencer/Columbus was outgained nearly 2-to-1 in the first half but found itself only down by six points heading into halftime of its Cloverbelt Conference football showdown with Stanley-Boyd.

The Rockets’ fortunes quickly changed as Stanley-Boyd returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown — one of three scores in the third quarter — and the Orioles went on to a 33-14 victory Friday night at Spencer High School.

Stanley-Boyd (2-1 overall, 1-1 Cloverbelt Conference) used a hurry-up, quick-strike passing offense to amass 251 yards through the air and another 161 on the ground. Quarterback Seth Hause did the majority of the damage, completing 20 of 33 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown and added another 27 yards rushing.

“They were very good, were well-prepared, and came in and beat us,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said. “They were better prepared than us, they played better than us, and they deserved to win the game.”

Ryan Ponick scored from the 3-yard line to end Stanley-Boyd’s first possession with a touchdown, giving the Orioles an early 7-0 lead.

The Rockets (2-1 overall and Cloverbelt Conference) stopped Stanley-Boyd on the 23-yard line on fourth down, and Hunter Luepke recovered fumbles on the Orioles’ next two possessions, but they got things going again midway through the second quarter.

The Orioles converted three-straight third downs, and Hause hit Brandon Herrick for a 4-yard touchdown pass to complete a 15-play drive that put them on top 14-0.

After the kick, Spencer/Columbus had its only big scoring play of the game when Noah Zastrow was forced out of the pocket as he dropped back to pass, ran to the right, juked the entire Orioles defense, and then scampered 63 yards for a touchdown. Luepke ran in the conversion to cut the Rockets’ deficit to 14-8 with 4:25 to go before halftime.

The Rockets went into the break seemingly back in the game. However, that feeling changed quickly.

Brandon Milas took a reverse and ran 67 yards for a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half, and after the Rockets went three-and-out, Stanley-Boyd went 92 yards in 14 plays. Hause completed four of five passes on the drive for 43 yards, and Ponick ran in from the 1 to make it 26-8.

After another three-and-out by Spencer/Columbus, the Orioles blocked the Rockets’ punt and needed to go just seven yards for their next score: a 1-yard run by Ben Goettl.

“We still have a lot of goals this season,” Gorst said. “We lost to a very good team tonight. I like our effort overall. I know they’ll come back with a better week of practice next week, and we will get better.”

Spencer/Columbus finished the scoring with an impressive drive in the fourth quarter, going 96 yards on 16-straight running plays. Luepke ran in from the 6 with 4:14 to go.

Zastrow ended up with 144 yards on the ground, and Luepke added 88, but the rest of the Rockets’ offense had just 15 yards, and they missed on all nine passing attempts in the game.

Spencer/Columbus plays at Neillsville next Friday.

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

Orioles 33, Rockets 14

Stanley-Boyd 7 7 19 0 – 33

Spencer/Columbus 0 7 0 7 – 14

First Quarter

SB – Ryan Ponick 3 run (Brandon Herrick kick), 8:14.

Second Quarter

SB – Herrick 4 pass from Seth Hause (Herrick kick), 4:45.
SC – Noah Zastrow 63 run (Hunter Luepke kick), 4:25.

Third Quarter

SB – Brandon Milas 67 kickoff return (run failed), 11:44.
SB – Ponick 1 run (pass failed), 5:27.
SB – Ben Goettl 1 run (Herrick kick), 2:30.

Fourth Quarter

SC – Luepke 6 run (run failed), 4:14.

Team Statistics

First downs: Stanley-Boyd 22; Spencer/Columbus 9.

Rushing (att-yards): SB 42-161; SC 46-247.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): SB 22-35-251-1; SC 0-9-0-0.

Punting (no.-avg.): SB 1-28.0; SC 5-27.6.

Fumbles (total-lost): SB 1-1; SC 2-0.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SB, Ryan Ponick 11-51, Ben Goettl 12-35, Seth Hause 4-27, Sam Burzynski 7-26, Ben Turner 1-10, Matt Nesterick 2-4, Brendon Derks 3-2, L.J. Schmelzer 1-2, Luke Spaeth 1-1. SC, Noah Zastrow 22-144, Hunter Luepke 18-88, Jacob Miller 3-27, Carson Hildebrandt 2-3, Jarred Mandel 1-minus 5.

Passing: SB, Hause 20-33-229-1, Schmelzer 2-2-22-0. SC, Mandel 0-6-0-0, Zastrow 0-2-0-0, Luepke 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: SB, Brandon Herrick 4-43, Sam Burzynski 4-32, Dillan Raether 3-53, Ponick 3-27, Zak Ingersoll 2-36, Ben Milas 1-15, Turner 1-9, Noah Gillingham 1-7. SC, none.

Punting: SB, Gillingham 1-28.0. SC, Zastrow 4-25.0, Luepke 1-38.0.

Fumble recoveries (defense): SC, Luepke.

Interceptions (defense): SC, Karak Bushman.

Records: Stanley-Boyd 2-1, 1-1 Cloverbelt Conference; Spencer/Columbus 2-1 overall and Cloverbelt Conference.