“FROM THE HUDDLE”

BY COACH BRIAN WALKER       

            The RRC Falcons made their longest trip of the year last Friday to take on the other Falcons of McLeod West in Stewart.  Our home town Falcons needed a win to secure a spot in the upcoming section playoffs, and the team was riding a two game winning streak besides.  It turned out to be another typical Southern MN Conference battle, with RRC coming out on the winning side 14-6 over McLeod West.  It was a huge win for us, as we have never won in Stewart, and we beat a big and physical football team.  Our kids came out and got down early on in the first quarter 6-0, but after that, the defense settled in and shut out McLeod West the rest of the game.  Our offense did enough against the big defensive front of McLeod West.  Our line did a nice job overall.  In the game, we didn’t have a lost yardage play the entire game.  We got off the ball and were quicker than they were.  Our backs ran hard, and we mixed things up with the run and the pass, especially early in the first half.  Faced with a 3^rd and 7, we rolled out Blake Walker, and he found Josh Fredrickson in the endzone for a touchdown.  Matt Fox kicked the all important extra point to give RRC a 7-6 lead.  That is the way the game would stay until late in the third quarter.  Our special teams kept pinning them deep to their endzone on punts, so we forced them to punt from the one yard line.  Bevern Kedl returned the ball 13 yds to the 21 yd line, so the short field turned out to be the difference.  Bevern Kedl continued to run the ball on the next two carries, almost breaking the second run for a touchdown, but was tripped up after a nice 13 yd gain.  >From there, Ryan Benedict ran it over the left side of Charlie Hubert, Josh Rogotzke, and Brian Benedict.  We were getting great push on both sides of the ball. Taylor Mattison and Travis Erickson did a great job staying on their blocks and moving the pile.  The PAT kick by Matt Fox made it 14-6.  Still just a one touchdown game, the RRC defense would have the final say.  The Falcon offense was forced to punt with 1:35 left in the game, but on McLeod West’s first play, Nate Bierman made his second interception of the night. From there, the Falcons were able to take a knee, and run 1 play to run the seconds off the clock. For the game, the stats were very close, with McLeod West out gaining the Falcons by two yards 227 -225. The RRC Falcons rushed for 159 yds, with Bevern Kedl gaining 62 yds on 16 carries.  Ryan Benedict picked up 59 yds in 11 tries, and Turner Nickel gained 29 yds in 10 carries.  Through the air, Blake Walker hooked up on 5 of 15 passes for 66 yds and 1 TD.  Eric Altermatt caught 2 passes for 38 yds, Ryan Benedict 1 for 12 yds, Turner Nickel 1 for 9 yds on an exceptional grab which showed great concentration on Turner’s part.  Josh Fredrickson hauled in the other catch for 7 yds and the TD.  On defense, Taylor Mattison had a huge night with 19 tackles, 1 interception and 1 QB sack.  Ryan Benedict had 13 tackles and 1 QB sack.  Bevern Kedl had 12 tackles, as did Josh Fredrickson, with Josh recording 2 QB sacks.  Dillon Imker controlled the middle with 9 tackles and 1 QB sack.  Sophomore Aaron Furth made his first start of the year on the defensive line for Matt Sticha who was home ill, and did a nice job getting in on 2 tackles, and helping plug the middle for the other players to make the plays.  Our defense started 4 sophomores in the game, and they all made big contributions; Zach Siemer; 6 tackles, Aaron Furth, 2 tackles, Dillon Imker 9 tackles and Nate Bierman had 2 interceptions.

Our defense has been playing real well in our three game winning streak.  We have allowed just 21 points in the past three games, and in 4 of our last 5 games, we have allowed just 1 TD in each game.  This team has really put it together in the second half of the season, and will put it on the line on Wednesday night against the #1 ranked team in the state, the Wabasso Rabbits in Lamberton. It will be Jr. League night, so we want to get a big crowd there.  Also, they will be serving Chili and burgers before the game. With the third straight win, the Falcons will advance to the playoffs next Tuesday night at a site to be determined.  Right now we are sitting at a 7 or 8 seed, but you never now, with a win over Wabasso, we could move up to 6.  This group of players have really responded to what we have asked them to do, and are playing some of the best football we have seen in a few years here.  Let’s keep on the roll, and make a run in the playoffs!! GO FALCONS!!!