The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Rushville-Industry Rockets rallied from a first half deficit to defeat the visiting West-Prairie La Harpe Cyclones, 20-14.
The Rockets, who are ranked #7 in Class 3A, scored two 2nd half touchdowns to overcome a 14-6 WP-LH lead in defeating the upset minded Cyclones.
The Rockets improve to 4-0 on the season, while the Cyclones fall to 2-2.
WP-LH got on the scoreboard first when they took the opening kick-off and marched 70 yards in 8 plays to score.
Senior fullback Erick Swank capped the drive with a 1 yard plunge. Matt Woolam added the point after kick for an early 7-0 advantage.
The Rockets came right back with a drive of their own to cut the WP-LH lead to 7-6 with 3:36 to play in the first quarter. After an exchange of punts the Cyclones got under way again on another long scoring drive.
This drive would cover 74 yards and would include some nice runs by Swank and quarterback Kevin Mershon. Finally, Joel DeCounter would break loose on a counter play over the left side for a 15 yard touchdown run.
A good double team by Ryan Mullenix and Randy Bray, combined with trap blocks by J.D. Hobby and Jacob Markey, to spring DeCounter for the score. Woolam was again true on the PAT kick to put WP-LH up 14-6.
The 2nd half would see a momentum change as the Rockets quickly scored with a successful 2-point conversion to knot the score at 14 all. The Cyclones would try to comeback, but their turnovers combined with the pounding Rocket ground attack would keep the WP-LH offense off the field and out of the endzone.
The Rockets then went on to score the go ahead score early in the 4th quarter, and their defense made their lead stand at a final of 20-14.
The Rockets outgained WP-LH 351 yards to 259. This total included 348 yards on the ground for the Rockets on 55 carries. The Rockets really took control of the line of scrimmage in the 2nd half, as they gained 256 yards on the ground in the games final 24 minutes.
The Cyclones will try to get back on the winning track this week when they host Bunker Hill.
That game will be Saturday afternoon at Baumann Field in Sciota. This is the 2005 Homecoming for the Cyclones and kick-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.