Rock Falls ready to hit the road to Rockford in Week 1

The Rock Falls football team has been looking forward to Week 1 ever since last season ended with a Week 9 loss and a 1-8 record.

In fact, it’s all the Rockets have been thinking about ever since preseason practices started Aug. 8, and they’re more than ready to hit the road and play Rockford Christian on Friday night.

“The energy, and just being able to hit someone new instead of just the same person across from us every practice, it just feels so good,” senior lineman James Schmitt said. “Every Friday night, no matter away or home, it’s just nice to play the game and be out there. We only get nine games a year, so it’s easy to bring energy, especially for this first one.”

Last year, the Week 1 showdown with the Royal Lions at Hinders Field was the most memorable game for Rock Falls, a 50-0 victory in which the Rockets dominated all three phases of the game, took control from the start and didn’t let up.

Rockford Christian was very similar to the Rockets last season, with both teams starting a lot of young players due to low numbers. Rock Falls coach Kevin Parker knows things won’t be easy Friday night despite last year’s outcome.

“I think we have to expect them to be improved. They kind of mirrored us with having a younger team, and they are bringing some guys back with some experience,” Parker said. “They have a terrific coach, and over time that program is going to continue to get better. I don’t care what the score was last year, it’s 0-0 right now, and we’ve got to be ready to go if we’re going to be able to hang with this team at their place.”

Rockford Christian scored the fewest points in the Big Northern Conference last season with 83, while giving up 463 – 146 points more than Rock Falls (317), which allowed the second-most.

The Rockets were outscored 317-133 last season, but that young squad seemed to be finding its footing toward the end of the year. After that 50-point outburst in Week 1, they only scored 23 points total over the next five games, but closed the season with 60 points over the final three weeks.

Parker credits that to the improvement of several freshmen who were thrust into playing time from the get-go starting to figure out the speed and ruggedness of the varsity game. He said an inward focus on themselves and what they need to do each play will continue to benefit the Rockets.

“The number one thing is we’ve got to take care of ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re doing things correctly. We struggled a little bit this week with some practices, and we’ve got a little challenge today to make sure that we are better.”

On offense, look for more run than pass, but the Rockets expect to be able to have some semblance of balance in their play-calling. It all starts up front in the trenches, and that’s been a key focus in practice this week.

“Just block hard and make gaps, use the double-team like we got taught and push people,” junior lineman Jonathon Hicks said. “We’re letting our running backs read the holes, so we want to have multiple holes in the line for them to choose from. Even if it’s supposed to go to one side, we always want to have a cutback there for them. We’re trying to get it down to where we can get three or four yards per play when we run.

“We just have to stay calm and play our game.”

On defense, it comes down to the big guys up front occupying Rockford Christian’s blockers, so the Rock Falls linebackers can read the play, flow to the ball, and limit the Royal Lions’ ability to sustain drives.

“We have to play like we have been playing during practice. Our defense has been really, really good,” Hicks said. “We want to contain the outside, take up blocks, and then let our linebackers make tackles. We want to keep them from moving the ball too much.”

And being on the road, Schmitt says it’s all about the Rockets bringing their own energy, as well as the players understanding their roles on the field and not trying to do too much. The key to success will be to let the game come to them and execute their tasks as well as they can each and every down.

“From the first snap to the last snap, we need to know our position and do it right. If each of us do our jobs right, that’s the key to winning every single game,” Schmitt said. “It’s what we’ve got to do every week, from Rockford Christian to Stillman [in Week 2] all the way to the last game. No matter who it is across from us, it’s very important that we all do our jobs right.”