A Defensive Battle in Virginia
Rock Ridge, after two weeks enjoying runaway victories, found scoring hard to come by Friday night when they faced off with North Branch at home, falling to the Vikings 12-6.
The Wolverines did strike early with an impressive 77-yard run by Beckett Engel, who took a short pass, found a gap in the North Branch line, and then was off to the races. The kick missed, leaving the score at the time tied 6-6.
It stayed that way for much of the rest of the game despite both teams moving the ball well and several trips to the red zone, only to be blocked from the end zone.
The defenses were dug in for most of the game, trading takeaways and stuffing runs, but the injury bug proved costly for the Wolverines.
Beckett Engel, Jermaine Boshey, Ben Bakk, and Logan Bruemmer needed help off the field at various times, taking Rock Ridge out of the rhythm.
North Branch finally wore down the Wolverine line, scoring in the 4th quarter to take the lead, then stopping a charge that saw Rock Ridge take the kickoff at the 11 and power down the field, but were stopped just short. North Branch got the ball back on 4th down and didn’t give it back, waiting for the clock to wind down and give the Vikings the victory.
Next Friday, Rock Ridge takes the show on the road to play Duluth Denfeld with a 6:00 start time.
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