RILEY — Rock Creek football held off Riley County on the road Friday night, topping the Falcons 14-8 in a battle of two stout defenses.
The game saw seven total turnovers and Riley County edging out the Mustangs in total yards, 213-198.
“We weren’t really good offensively, but our defense with its back against the wall tonight just continued to make plays,” Rock Creek head coach Shane Sieben said. “Coach (Monte) Spiller did a great job having our kids prepared and they played hard and made play after play.”
Early on, the writing was on the wall that a defensive battle was in store. Through the first quarter, the two teams sat scoreless after a punt each, a turnover on downs forced by the Falcons and a forced fumble on a sack by the Mustangs.
The strip sack allowed Rock Creek to set up shop in positive territory, eventually leading to quarterback Mack Lee punching in a one-yard rushing touchdown early in the second quarter.
“We always want to score first,” Sieben said. “Then we’ll just respond to adversity, and our kids did that.”
After going up 7-0, the Rock Creek defense forced another quick stop and got the ball back in the offense’s hands. Shortly after, Lee connected with receiver Trevor Christensen on a 44-yard touchdown, the Mustangs’ biggest offensive play
Just before the half, however, the Falcons offense created some momentum and earned its third red zone opportunity. Rock Creek denied the first two with an interception and turnover on downs, but Riley County finally cashed in on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Eli Harmison to Jace Woodard.
“We were in the red zone a lot, we just weren’t able to (score) for a variety of reasons,” Riley County head coach Erik Willimon said. “It’s not the kids’ fault; that goes back on me. We just have to get better on being able to capitalize.”
Going into halftime, the Falcons held a 14-6 lead and felt confident despite allowing a late touchdown.
“We felt like we won the first half,” Sieben said. “Just a couple turnovers, we gave them short fields, but we made a couple plays. So for us (the message) was just, ‘go win the second half.’”
The defense picked up the memo, only allowing two first downs in the entire third quarter. The Riley County defense out-did their efforts, however, and didn’t allow a single first down in the third quarter which kept the Falcons in the game, down eight going into the final period.
“To have those miscues offensively, whether it be turnovers or penalties, and then still be in position to compete and win the football game, I can’t say enough about our defensive coaches and the way that our kids played defense,” Willimon said.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Riley County began driving, hoping to score and have a chance to tie the game. But once again, the opposing defense came up big as Rock Creek picked off the Falcons just in front of the end zone, with under two minutes to play.
“Turnovers are always going to hurt you,” Willimon said. “When you have as many guys as we do play both ways, it’s hard not to let that negative play carry over on defense.”
Just as the Falcons’ chances looked bleak, their defense stepped up once again. After the interception, Riley County held the Mustangs at its own one-yard line, but Rock Creek couldn’t escape as the Falcons stuffed them for a safety.
“Our kids played hard, they were resilient, and they played until the last down,” Willimon said. “I can’t speak enough how proud I am of them in their performance. … They never gave up.”
The safety brought the Falcons’ deficit to six and gave Riley County the ball with a chance to win the game. Ultimately, the Mustangs’ defense got the stop it needed, sacking Harmison with under a minute to play.
“It’s dogfight in this league every week, we came out on top and did just enough,” Sieben said.
Riley County falls to 1-2 while Rock Creek extends its winning streak to two games and stands 2-1. The Falcons will host Royal Valley on Friday, and the Mustangs will hit the road to take on Silver Lake.
“There’s a lot to build on,” Willimon said. We’ll go back, watch film, do what we need to do, then get ready for next Friday.”
ROCK CREEK 14, RILEY COUNTY 8
ROCK CREEK (2-1) — 0; 14; 0; 0; —14
RILEY COUNTY (1-2) — 0; 6; 0; 2; — 8
SCORING SUMMARY
Rock Creek — Mack Lee rush for 1-yard, PAT good by Jaxon Pendell (11:40 2Q)
Rock Creek — Trevor Christensen 44-yard pass from Mack Lee, PAT good by Jaxon Pendel (8:23 2Q)
Riley County — Jace Woodard 8-yard pass from Eli Harmison, 2-pt no good (0:29 2Q)
Riley County — Safety (1:54 4Q)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Rock Creek: Drew Becker 9-35-0, Mack Lee 8-16-2, Dawson Rankin 1-5-0; Riley County: Sam Allen 17-53-0, Eli Harmison 16-6-0, KJ Davis 2-7-0
PASSING — Rock Creek: Mack Lee 11-23-144-1-2; Riley County: Eli Harmison 13-34-145-1-3
RECEIVING — Rock Creek: Trevor Christensen 3-58-1, Daegen Vinduska 3-33-0, Elijah Bell 2-28-0, Drew Becker 2-11-0; Riley County: Jace Woodard 6-48-1, Brett Hopper 3-24-0, Sam Allen 2-10-0, KJ Davis 2-70-0
