North Boone wasn’t going to rally from a seven-touchdown deficit in the second half against No. 1 seed Richmond-Burton, especially with a game clock that wasn’t stopping, so Vikings coach Brett Frederick stopped the football game.

Only a few plays earlier, North Boone junior running back Connor Chamberlain had to be carted off the field on a stretcher after getting tackled.

“This game has to be played with focus and intensity, and it just didn’t feel like our kids were there,” Frederick said. “I don’t blame them for that.”

So, with 5:42 left in the third quarter, No. 16 North Boone requested that the Class 3A playoff opener to be called. Richmond-Burton won 49-0, after leading 42-0 at halftime.

Hunter Carley rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries for R-B (10-0), which advances to Round 2 and will await the winner of Saturday’s 1 p.m. game between No. 8 Chicago Noble/Rauner (7-2) and No. 9 Aurora Central Catholic (7-2) at Hanson Stadium. The Rockets will either host Chicago Noble/Rauner or visit Aurora Central Catholic.

“It’s his prerogative,” R-B coach Mike Noll said of Frederick. “I feel bad for the young man [Chamberlain]. Hopefully he’s OK.”

While the Rockets scored TDs on all six of their possessions in the first half, their defense set the tone. Junior defensive end Breckin Campbell knocked down a pass from Vikings quarterback Grady Condon in the backfield on the game’s first play from scrimmage. The Rockets then stopped Condon on a sneak on fourth-and-1 from the North Boone 35-yard line.

Carley scored three plays later from the 5, after Riley Shea barreled 21 yards.

On North Boone’s next possession, Campbell sacked Condon for an 11-yard loss, which led to a punt.

Campbell made his season debut in Week 6 after undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee in May. He’s been a force since his return.

“On the field, it doesn’t matter if it’s practice or a game, I’m just working to get better,” Campbell said. “I’m working for my team to get better, trying to do my job so everybody else can.”

Blake Livdahl (nine carries, 97 yards) made the score 14-0 with a 3-yard run that capped a 10-play drive with 2:01 left in the first quarter. TD runs by Shea (1 yard) and Luke Johnson (15 yards) sandwiched Carley TD runs of 2 and 58 yards in the second quarter.

“In the first quarter we seemed a little nervous,” Noll said. “I don’t know where that’s coming from. But we got a lot of experience on the team, and hopefully we’ll settle in and play some good football.”

The junior Carley didn’t necessarily agree with his coach’s assessment of the Rockets’ play in the first quarter. Carley and his 2024 teammates went 7-2 during the regular season, only to lose to St. Laurence in the opening round of the playoffs.

“Definitely, through my experience at R-B, it’s a whole different feeling this time around,” Carley said. “We’re a lot more confident than we’ve ever been. Everybody all week just really felt like we were going to win this game. And I’ve never felt that before.”

Shea’s second TD of the night, from 5 yards out, extended the Rockets’ lead against North Boone (5-5) to 49-0, two plays after Joseph Larsen returned the second-half kickoff 60 yards. The second half started with a running clock.

On North Boone’s ensuing series, Chamberlain (10 carries, 50 yards) ran 3 yards up the middle and was tackled by multiple Rockets. He lay horizontal on the field, unable to get up, and the clock was stopped with 9:04 left in the third.

After the delay, the Vikings were flagged for a false start. Four plays later, after North Boone recovered a muffed punt, Frederick called the officials over to his sideline.

“We had a traumatic injury,” Frederick said. “We hope it’s not anything too severe, but we don’t know. It really shook our kids. I came over to them and tried to get them back in the mindset to focus on playing again. To their credit, they tried.”

Frederick saw nothing malicious on the play that resulted in his player getting injured.

“As he was going to the ground, he got bent back a little bit and the next guy came in,” Frederick said. “It was just him getting hit at the wrong angle, more than anything. I’m not claiming that anything that happened was illegal. It just happened to be a physical play.”