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Rothsay Football Team Eliminated in Section 6 9-Man Playoffs

By Josh Nordick, 10/27/18, 7:30AM CDT

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The Rothsay Tigers traveled to Ulen the take on the Ulen-Hitterdahl/Norman County East Titans in a Section 6 9-Man semifinal contest on Saturday.  The Tigers were coming off their first playoff win since dissolving their own co-op 10 years ago.  The Titans had a first round bye and were 8-0 on the season looking to make it to their second straight section championship, but they would first have to get by the Tigers.

The Titans started the game with a drive down the field looking like the state ranked team that has been undefeated all year, but a dropped pass on a 4th down would end the drive with no score and give the Tigers their first chance at some points.  They would not disappoint as they scored on a 78 yard touchdown run 3 plays into their first drive and succeeded on their two point conversion to take an early 8-0 lead. 

The Tigers would use that big play on offense to get hyped up and play with the number one team in section 6. That hype would soon be stifled as the Titans would throw a short pass but take it 58 yards into the end zone.  The two point attempt failed and the Tigers still led 8-6.

In the second quarter on a fourth and 5 the Tigers threw a ball into the end zone for a touchdown, but an illegal motion penalty would bring it back and they failed to convert on their next attempt. The Titans had to sustain a drive to hope to take the lead before halftime with 6 minutes left before the break.  Converting three third down plays and a fourth down play, the Titans got their lead with less than one minute on the clock, 14-8.

“We came out and played hard against a good team,” Rothsay coach Josh Nordicksaid.  “We may have played our best half of football tonight.  I felt pretty good going into halftime and getting a chance to regain the lead.”

The Tigers would take the first possession of the second half and keep gaining first downs, but what looked like a big play yielded a fumble and stopped the promising drive for the Tigers.  The Titans started to show why they are the number 1 seed. A first and goal made the Rothsay defense step up as they were ready to play stopping them on the 3 yard line to force a turnover on downs. Stuck on their own goal line the Tiger offense couldn’t get much going and were forced to punt giving the Titans excellent field position.  They took advantage and score to take a 22-8 lead just seconds into the 4th quarter.

The Titans forced another punt and their depth started to show up and the Tigers were beginning to look tired.  A 70 yard run took the Titans down to the goal line and led to a score a few plays later to increase their lead to 28-8 halfway into the fourth quarter.  After another stop by the Titans and another big run, the Titans put the game out of reach for a final of 34-8.

“I was pleased with our performance tonight,” Nordick said.  “We were only down by 8 going into the 4th quarter and had a chance to win, but numbers and depth proved a big deal tonight. It was a hard fought game but we played it right and our seniors led us all night.  They stepped up to the challenge and went out as a class who brought life into a program that is still looking to build.”

The Tigers were led offensively by Colby Larson (122 yards on 19 carries with 1 TD) and Jacob Christ (77 yards on 15 carries).  Defensively it was really a team effort with Tanner Keep recording the most tackles with 11.