Rockets Soar Past Posen In Playoff Opener, 60-25

RAPID RIVER---Jake Pearson scored five touchdowns on the ground and threw for three more scores as the Rapid River Rockets routed the undermanned Posen Vikings, 60-25, in the opening round of the state playoffs Friday night in Rapid River.

Jake Pearson rolls out and looks to throw.

Pearson scored on runs of 1, 62, 25, 35, and 9 yards. In the air, he threw a pair of touchdown passes to Mike Casey (46 and 45 yards) and Pearson hooked up with Pat Pryal for a 44-yard touchdown pass. And all but one of these TD's came in the first half.

Rapid River actually started off a bit sluggish, having to punt on its first possession and missing on three wide-open long pass plays on the second possession.

Then, the Vikings scored first as Nick Hinca scored from eleven yards out, set up by 19 and 24-yard runs by Travis Sharpe. So the underdogs from downstate had the lead.

But the Rockets got their wake-up call moments later. They went to the air again, and this time, Mike Casey hauled in a beautifully-thrown Pearson pass for a 46-yard touchdown. After Pearson scored the two-point play, Rapid River led, 8-7.

Jake Pearson to Mike Casey TD Pass #1

The Vikings then fumbled on the next possession, and Pearson scored on a short touchdown run with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

His two-point pass to Josh Parrett made it 16-7, and that was just the beginning for the Rocket offense.

Hayden Harwick tees up another kick.

In the second quarter, Pearson got loose for a 62-yard touchdown, and he ran in the two-point play to make it 24-7.

Then after George Kanyuh blocked a punt, Pearson sprinted for a 25-yard touchdown.

And Pearson scored the conversion, and it was a 32-7 game. The Vikings went three-and-out, and it took just one play for Pearson to find Pryal for another touchdown.

Rapid River led, 40-7, with two minutes left in the half. But in "eight-man" football, two minutes is a lot of time for scoring.

And the Vikings came back quickly as Hinca raced for a 69-yard touchdown after a Rockets defender slipped in the mud and fell.

Jake Pearson 62-yard TD run.

But the Vikings left 1:09 on the clock. And Pearson only needed 24 of those 69 seconds as he hooked up with Casey for another touchdown.

This one was for 45 yards, and it was a 48-13 lead for the Rockets. And the half still was not over! That's because the Vikings fumbled the ball when they got it back.

Steve Johnson with the tackle for loss.

And on the next play, Pearson was off to the races again. This time, it was a 35-yard touchdown run, and with 21 seconds left in the first half, Rapid River had a 54-13 lead.

Pearson put some icing on the cake in the third quarter when he scored from nine yards out on the first possession of the second half.

That made it 60-13, and the Rockets junior varsity kids played the majority of the second half from there.

Posen scored two touchdowns against the Rapid River reserves, but the Rockets had more than enough points to win the playoff opener, going away. The Vikings made the five-hour trip as a depleted team, with several key starters out with injuries.

Pearson had 191 yards on 12 carries and five touchdowns. Dave Hough had 23 yards on six carries, and Pryal had 23 yards on seven touches. In the air, Pearson completed three of eight passes for 135 yards. All three completions were for touchdowns.

Jake Pearson 62 yard TD run

Posen (4-6) was led by Sharpe's 119 yards on 15 carries, and Hinca's 106 yards on 17 touches. Hinca also had a 62-yard touchdown pass to Matt Wisniewski.

Rapid River (10-0) will host a second-round playoff game against the Engadine Eagles. Engadine upset Cedarville, 28-26, in Friday night's other district semifinal game.

Next Friday's game in Rapid River will start at 7:00. The broadcast begins at 6:45 on WGKL-FM (105.5), WCHT-AM (600), and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos taken by Michelle Rubick, videos taken by Mike Larson, and to listen to audio highlights and interviews with Mike Boyer, Mike Casey, Jake Pears0n, Hayden Hardwick, and Coach Steve Ostrenga.

Mike Boyer (45) with the quarterback sack during Friday's game against Posen. (Michelle Rubick photo)

Date	Time	Opponent	Score	Record

8/29	7:00 PM	at Ewen-Trout Creek Panthers	44 - 12 (W)	1-0

9/5	7:00 PM	Posen Vikings	62 - 26 (W)	2-0

9/13	7:00 PM	Engadine Eagles	56 - 28 (W)	3-0

9/20	7:00 PM	at Brimley Bays	48 - 6 (W)	4-0

9/27	7:00 PM	at Engadine Eagles	46 - 22 (W)	5-0

10/4	7:00 PM	at Cedarville Trojans	48 - 25 (W)	6-0

10/11	7:00 PM	Superior Central Cougars	42 - 0 (W)	7-0

10/18	7:00 PM	Mid Peninsula Wolverines	2 - 0 (W)	8-0

10/25	7:00 PM	at Bellaire Eagles	74 - 42 (W)	9-0

11/1	7:00 PM	Posen Vikings	60 - 25 (W)	10-0

11/8	7:00 PM	Engadine Eagles	50 - 21 (W)	11-0

11/16	1:00 PM	Kinde North Huron Warriors	40 - 8 (W)	12-0

11/22	7:00 PM	at Peck Pirates	32 - 67 (L)	12-1