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Underwood snapped a five game losing skid with a solid 60-26 homecoming night victory over the Rothsay Tigers on Friday night. “What an incredible homecoming week and a fantastic way to cap it off,” said head coach Ryan Hendrickson of the Rockets. “Our team came out with heart, determination, and a will to win, and I couldn’t be more proud of these players for their effort.”
Collin Lukken ran for 210 yards and five touchdowns on 14 carries and Drew Evavold had 157 passing yards to lead a balanced offensive attack for Underwood. Evavold was a perfect 6-for-6 throwing the football. Owen Harig was the leading receiver with 78 yards on two catches. The Rockets received interceptions from Kaleb Hammes, Leo Bye and Camden Skjeret, and fumble recoveries from Levi Evavold and Garrett Kuhn-Rice.
The first quarter was wild as the Rockets led 24-16 after the first 12 minutes of play. Lukken started the scoring with a 15 yard run, followed by a successful two-point conversion. Rothsay tied the game with a 75-yard kick-off return by Karson Jensen. The Tigers tacked on the two-point conversion to tie the game an 8-8. Lukken’s second 15 yard TD run of the quarter and another two-point conversion run provided the Rockets with a 16-8 lead. Lukken then added a 16 yard touchdown run and a third two-point conversion pushed the Rockets lead to 24-8. Rothsay scored on a 6 yard run by Jensen and with the two-point conversion they cut the Underwood lead to 24-16 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Drew Evavold broke free for a 30 yard run, followed by another two-point conversion and a 32-16 advantage. They increased the lead to 40-16 when Evavold connected with Evan Lundgren on a 7 yard touchdown pass and the Rockets again converted the two-point try. Lukken’s fourth TD run was from 22 yards out and the follow-up two-point run gave the home team a 48-16 lead. Evavold hit Lundgren for a 32 yard touchdown and a 54-16 halftime lead.
Lukken’s huge night ended with a 71 yard TD run in the third quarter which lifted the Rockets lead to 60-16.
Rothsay recorded a third quarter touchdown on a one yard run by Jensen, and a fourth quarter safety to put the final at 60-26.
Underwood had 463 total yards with 306 coming on the ground and 157 through the air. Rothsay finished with 180 (38 passing, 142 rushing) total yards.
"This one got away from us," commented Rothsay head coach Joel Meyer. "We did not have a good game tonight. I believe we are a way better team than what this score says. We are looking to regroup going into a short week."
Jensen ran for 84 yards on 21 carries. Preston Curtis completed 6-of-14 passes for 41 yards and Landon Messerschmidt caught 4 passes for 26 yards.