The No. 6-seeded Randolph Rocket football team went into John Burch Park Tuesday night and upset the No. 3 seed Cannon Falls Bombers 28-20 in the first round of the Section 4AA playoffs.
The Rockets’ win avenged a 20-14 loss to the Bombers in the first week of the season and a 50-6 drubbing by Cannon Falls in the first round of the playoffs last year.
“It feels great, finally beating these guys,” said Randolph senior quarterback Colton Ford. “It’s the best feeling in the world. Losing to them last year, we were the underdogs coming into it. We’ve always been looked down on from Cannon, it just feels awesome though.”
Randolph now travels to No. 2 seed Rush City on Saturday, Oct. 25, for a 1 p.m. game against the Tigers. Rush City (6-3) blew out the No. 7 and winless Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights 52-14 in the first round. On the other side of the Section 4AA bracket, top-seeded and undefeated Goodhue will face the No. 4 seed Central Area (Norwood-Young America) Raiders in the semifinals. The Raiders (5-4) beat No. 5 Maple Lake (5-4) 34-6.
The Section 4AA championship game is on Halloween (Friday, Oct. 31) at 7 p.m. in Dodge Center at Triton High School.
Randolph ran for 226 yards in the win and passed for just four yards, though that was for a touchdown. Cannon Falls had 227 total yards, all on the ground. Despite the parity in yards, the Rockets controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the game and were the more physical team. They routinely attacked the edge of the Cannon Falls defense with tosses and sweeps with senior Tristan Zingler, who proved incredibly difficult to bring down for the Bombers.
“They (Randolph) made some big plays tonight that we didn’t make. I guess that was the difference, in that first game, the first time we played them, we forced a couple turnovers and got some big plays when we needed them. And that didn’t happen tonight,” said Cannon Falls head coach Dan Meyers. “Credit to them, they played really well tonight. Our issue all season was being real physical, physicality on the line of scrimmage, and we just didn’t have it quite as much as they did tonight.”
Special teams proved a major advantage for Randolph, which became apparent from the opening kickoff when Rocket senior Noah Girgen returned it to the Cannon Falls 40 yard-line. The Rockets then struck first when Zingler connected with junior Judah Barker for a four-yard touchdown pass. The 2-point conversion was no good and Randolph led 6-0 with 6 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first quarter.
Cannon Falls went 3-and-out on their first possession of the game after falling behind the sticks due to a fumbled snap and the Rockets took over at their own 47 after the Bomber punt. From there Randolph extended its lead to 12-0 with 8:34 left in the first half when Zingler scored from a yard out. Once again the 2-point conversion was no good.
The Bombers got on the board with 4:51 left in the second quarter when sophomore running back TJ Kyyra scored from eight yards out. Fellow sophomore Trey Schoenfelder added the 2-point conversion to make it 12-8 Randolph.
The Rockets were almost able to extend their lead at the end of the first half but ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Bomber seven yard-line. Randolph led 12-8 at halftime.
Cannon Falls junior Griffin Peterson dives for a touchdown, one of his two scores in the loss. He also ran for 102 yards. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Cannon Falls received to start the second half and junior Griffin Peterson immediately gave life to the Bombers with a 44-yard run. He then scored from three yards out and Cannon Falls led 14-12 with 3:08 left in the third quarter. The bombers went 90 yards in almost nine minutes for their best drive of the game.
However, Randolph immediately responded. Senior Jameson Exley took the ensuing kickoff and ran it back to the Cannon Falls five yard-line. Barker then scored from five yards out and senior Carter Olson contributed the 2-point conversion to make it 20-14 Rockets with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
Cannon Falls started its next possession deep in its own territory after a bobbled kickoff return and then proceeded to fumble a snap, which Randolph recovered at the Bomber 26 at the start of the fourth quarter. Barker proceeded to score his second touchdown of the game, this time from two yards out, and Zingler added the 2-point conversion to make it 28-14 Rockets with 9:52 left in the game.
Cannon Falls stayed in contact by scoring on its next drive, another touchdown run by Peterson of 14 yards with 7:04 left, but the 2-point conversion was no good. The Bombers needed a stop, a touchdown and a 2-point conversion with time ticking away.
That strategy almost ended in disaster when Randolph recovered the Cannon Falls squib kick at the Rocket 47 and Barker broke a 46-yard run for the Rockets. However, Randolph ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Bomber three yard-line after a bad snap with 4:36 left in the game.
Cannon Falls had that 4:36 to drive 97 yards, score and get the 2-point conversion to tie the game. However, they ended up turning the ball over on downs at their own 43 with 1:22 left and Randolph was able to run out the clock.
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Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Carter Olson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Griffin Peterson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Colton Ford. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Sophomore TJ Kyyra. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Frankie Novak. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Sophomore Trey Schoenfelder. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Judah Barker. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior William Montgomery. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Noah Girgen. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Tristan Zingler. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Griffin Peterson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Tristan Zingler. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Carter Olson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Griffin Peterson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Colton Ford. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Sophomore TJ Kyyra. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Frankie Novak. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Sophomore Trey Schoenfelder. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Judah Barker. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior William Montgomery. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Noah Girgen. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Tristan Zingler. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Junior Griffin Peterson. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Senior Tristan Zingler. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Ford said the message heading into the game was that everything starts up front.
“Trenches win games. Our lines have to do something, our lines have to try the hardest because it starts up front,” he said. “It’s definitely nice having a good line and a really good running back to hand the ball off to and knowing he’s going to get positive yards every time.”
Ford attempted just four pass attempts all game, which he said he was perfectly fine with.
“After the first drive, we drove right down the field, I was like ‘well I’m not going to pass much, I’ll just hand the ball off’,” he said with a laugh.
Randolph junior Judah Barker after scoring one of his three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) in the win over the Bombers. Alec Hamilton / Cannon Falls Beacon
Zingler led the Randolph offense with 25 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown. Barker added eight attempts for 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Ford carried the ball three times for 17 yards. Barker also caught the Rockets’ lone completion for a four-yard touchdown.
Cannon Falls had two rushers go for over 100 yards. Kyyra carried the ball 18 times for 102 yards and a touchdown while Peterson had 15 attempts for 102 yards and a pair of scores.
While it’s not how the Bombers wanted their season to end, Meyers said that this year’s senior class – Dre Menard, Gavin Moorhead, Grady Meyers, Chase Curtis, Jacob Kiffmeyer, James Huseth, Dylan Menge, Jackson Plotz, Gus Otto and Talant Rifenberick – has earned everything they have done.
“These guys had to battle, they had to battle for their whole career,” he said. “Even back to middle school, everything they had, they had to work for. Nothing came easy for them but they kept grinding it out and gave it everything they had. I’m so proud of them.”