Rockets drop to 5-2

By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

MARSHFIELD — A wild first half had the Spencer/Columbus football team dreaming of getting back in the Cloverbelt Conference championship race, but a second-half run by Eau Claire Regis squashed those thoughts.

After the Rockets raced out to a 32-20 lead late in the second quarter, Regis scored 42 unanswered points to down Spencer/Columbus 62-32 and ruin Columbus Catholic High School’s homecoming game Saturday afternoon at Beell Stadium.

Regis quarterback Paul Petit threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Forden with 1:16 to go in the first half and hit him again for 22 yards midway through the third quarter to give the Ramblers their first lead at 34-32.

Petit tossed another TD pass to Alex Rocksvold, and the Ramblers (7-0, 6-0 Cloverbelt Conference) added three more scores in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Spencer/Columbus (5-2 overall and Cloverbelt Conference) led 12-0 after the first quarter on a pair of Noah Zastrow touchdowns.

Zastrow added a 63-yard TD in the second quarter, and Hunter Luepke ran 82 yards for a score to give Spencer/Columbus a 24-13 lead.

After Rocksvold scored, Zastrow answered with a 7-yard touchdown run to put the Rockets up 32-20 with 2:18 to go before halftime and give Spencer/Columbus its final points of the game.

Both Luepke and Zastrow were injured in the third quarter, and the Rockets’ offense suffered.

“Hats off to Regis on a well-played physical game,” Spencer/Columbus coach Jason Gorst said. “We did some things well but have a ways to go yet. We need to get healthy and work to improve. I was proud of our overall effort. Our guys really left it out there today.”

Spencer/Columbus plays at Altoona on Friday.

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

Ramblers 62, Rockets 32

Eau Claire Regis 0 27 14 21 – 62

Spencer/Columbus 12 20 0 0 – 32

First Quarter

SC – Noah Zastrow 2 run (run failed), 4:08.
SC – Zastrow 53 pass from Jarred Mandel (run failed), 4:00.

Second Quarter

ECR – Samuel Forden 14 pass from Paul Petit (Jack Nocolai kick), 11:18.
SC – Zastrow 63 run (pass failed), 11:01.
ECR – Noel Ortiz (run failed), 10:07.
SC – Luepke 82 run (kick missed), 9:10.
ECR – Alex Rocksvold 5 run (Nocolai kick), 6;08.
SC – Zastrow 7 run (Zastrow run), 2:18.
ECR – Forden 63 pass from Petit (Nocolai kick), 1:16.

Third Quarter

ECR – Forden 22 pass from Petit (Nocolai kick), 6:58.
ECR – Rocksvold 26 pass from Petit (Nocolai kick), 3:35.

Fourth Quarter

ECR – Jake Burns 9 run (Nocolai kick), 11:35.
ECR – Rocksvold 30 run (Nocolai kick), 9:07.
ECR – Kadin Peterson 25 pass from Will Jordahl (Nocolai kick), 3:46.

Team Statistics

First downs: ECR 21; SC 18.

Rushing (att-yards): ECR 39-263; SC 46-317.

Passing (comp-att-yards-int): ECR 10-19-227-0; SC 7-15-139-1.

Penalties (no.-yards): ECR 6-45; SC 5-55.

Fumbles (total-lost): ECR 1-1; SC 3-3.

Punting (no.-avg.): ECR 1-35.0; SC 2-23.5.

Individual Statistics

Rushing: ECR, Noel Ortiz 14-133, Jake Burns 10-58, Alex Rocksvold 3-38, Paul Petit 2-13, Isaac Michels 1-6, Andrew Root 1-5, Caleb Brickner 3-4, No. 24 1-3, No. 1 1-2, Vincent Lokken 2-2, Calvin Diaz 1-minus 1. SC, Hunter Luepke 18-159, Noah Zastrow 15-132, Jacob Miller 5-18, Leonardo Rodriguez 1-12, Shane Hamm 1-3, Andres Rodriguez 1-1, Carson Hildebrant 2-0, Jarred Mandel 1-minus 2, Austin Bacon 2-minus 6.

Passing: ECR, Petit 9-18-202-0, Will Jordahl 1-1-25-0. SC, Mandel 6-13-86-1, Zastrow 1-1-11-0, Bacon 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: ECR, Samuel Forden 4-114, Rocksvold 3-47, Kadin Peterson 1-25, Jacob Saldnek 1-25, Ben Sokup 1-16. SC, Karak Bushman 2-15, Zastrow 1-53, Ethan Meece 1-12, Luepke 1-11, Miller 1-4, Hildebrandt 1-2.

Records: Regis 7-0, 6-0 Cloverbelt Conference; Spencer/Columbus 5-2 overall and Cloverbelt Conference.