For the first half of Friday night, Rock Falls was in total control. But an inability to finish off drives and cash in on its massive advantage in time of possession hurt in the end.

Illinois Valley Central broke a scoreless tie at halftime with four second-half touchdowns in a 28-0 victory over the Rockets at Hinders Field.

“We played really hard, came out with a lot of hype, and we just executed and listened well,” Rock Falls’ Phillip Griffith Jr. said. “Then, come the second half, we lost all that.”

IVC (1-6) drove 54 yards to open the third quarter, taking the lead on quarterback Keegan Schol’s 4-yard touchdown run. After the Grey Ghosts forced a three-and-out, running back Sawyer Ellenwood sprinted 84 yards around right end on the first offensive play following the punt for a two-score lead.

“When those guys up front get me to the second level, I’ve got those burners and I can get it going,” said Ellenwood, who finished with 158 of his 175 yards in the second half. “I think we just simplified things down. We played like a better team in the second half, we all filled our individual roles, we played like we were taught to play. We came together as a team and we just played like we wanted it.”

Rock Falls (0-7) turned it over on downs on its next possession, and IVC drove again. Schol’s 21-yard run on fourth-and-12 set up the Grey Ghosts at the Rockets’ 1-yard line, and he scored on the next play.

It was an about-face from the first half, when IVC had a first-and-goal at the 1 and fumbled the snap; Logan Thome recovered for the Rockets. The Ghosts also lost a fumble on their first possession, as Peighton Ahlstrand recovered at the IVC 47.

“Honestly, in the first half, we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot with two fumbles. I think we just lit a fire under our butts and we just ran it right at them in the second half,” said Schol, who ran for 100 yards and threw for 69 more. “Sawyer had some good runs – they were electric – and once we started having a few good runs, we just kept going right at them. It was really successful.”

The Ghosts had another one-play drive after Sam Griggs recovered a Rock Falls fumble, as Ellenwood again outran the defense for a 43-yard touchdown.

The first half belonged to the Rockets. They dominated time of possession, holding the ball for more than 18 minutes and extending drives with third- and fourth-down conversions. They drove 50 yards in 7:40 to the IVC 10 on their first series, but turned it over on downs. After Ahlstrand’s fumble recovery, a pass on a fake punt fell incomplete.

Then the final drive of the half lasted 8:41, starting at their own 3-yard line and driving to the IVC 27 before a fourth-down pass was intercepted by Schol at the IVC 3.

“It very much felt like we had that momentum, and we were having success,” Griffith said. “Then we’d get down to the 20-yard line, and it’s like we felt satisfied – which we can’t do. We need to be satisfied once we finish off drives and find the end zone.”

Thome (55 yards), Griffith (53 yards), and Zachary Walker (46 yards) led a balanced ground game for Rock Falls; Thome ended up missing the second half with his arm in a sling.

“Definitely the middle run was working for us. I don’t think they expected that smash-mouth football from us,” Walker said. “We ran it hard and they didn’t really know how to adjust, and that’s what was working out in the first half. That’s how we got the ball moving a few times, we just couldn’t execute at the end of drives – as much as it hurts me to say, but it’s the reality of it and it’s just something we have to work on.”

After averaging 4.6 yards per carry in the first half (27 rushes for 124 yards), the Rockets managed just 2.5 yards per carry in the second half (22 rushes for 55 yards); they still had a five-minute edge in time of possession, but struggled to sustain drives.

Defensively, the Rockets limited the Grey Ghosts to 104 yards in the first half; IVC finished with 344 total yards, including 275 on the ground, with 202 of it coming on five long runs.