Two missed extra points and a wide-right field goal attempt in the waning moments meant #7 state-ranked Becker would improve to 5-1, while the #10-ranked Rocori Spartans would drop to 4-2 at Eppard Field Friday night.

The Bulldogs escaped with a 14-12 victory.

It wasn’t without any drama, especially in the last few minutes and especially the last seconds of a well-fought game. 

Rocori wound up marching 74 yards in the final minute of the fourth quarter and with 1.5 seconds left on the clock,  Spartan placekicker Christian Rodriguez came on to kick the game-winner — but instead he pushed the field goal try to the right from the eight yard line to give the home team the win by two.

Rocori would break through first in the second quarter, when they took the ball the length of the field and scored on  a one-yard run from QB Jack Steil. The two-point conversion attempt was played perfectly by Mitchell Louden on the edge, as he dove to knock the ball out of the Spartan receiver’s hands near the one to keep the score at 6-0.

Down by six, the Bulldogs took their next drive and marched the field down to the one. QB Josh Fobbe pushed the ball over the goal line from one yard out through a pile of players to tie the game. The extra point kick by Emma Domka just skimmed wide of the left upright, leaving the score at six apiece.

Rocori’s Steil was a handful for Hokan Bengtson’s defense as he disguised the handoffs well and was a tough guy to bring down once he started scrambling away from the pocket. His accuracy with his arm was admirable, too, especially over the middle where Steil and his receivers feasted on the lack of coverage from the Becker linebackers and safeties.

However, though the Bulldog defense bent under the Spartan weaponry, the Bulldog “D” rarely broke ­ giving up just 83 yards on the ground. Wipe out the last drive of the game, and the defense did a decent job against the high-flying air game of the Spartans.

The Bulldogs would pull ahead later in the first half when Isaac Koop took a Fobbe handoff from 11 yards out and scooted into the end zone for a six-point lead. Fobbe fooled the Spartans on the two-point conversion when he rolled far  to his right, then zipped a cross-field pass to the far corner of the end zone to Luke Eigen to garner the all-important two points.

At 14-6 with just four minutes left in the first half, Becker was sitting pretty with a toasty warming house awaiting the team nearby.

However, the Spartans cooled Becker’s heels as they managed the final few minutes brilliantly and scored a TD from one yard out again (Steil) with just 48 seconds left.

Halftime score: 14-12.

Little did anyone know that would be the final score as well.

Though no scoring occurred in the final 24 minutes, there was plenty of anxiety and excitement to be had by the Becker faithful on this Tackle Cancer night at Eppard Field. Both teams looked primed to put another dent in the scoreboard, but each time the offenses were stymied by the defenses at critical times on critical plays. Lots of failed fourth down attempts throughout the night in this defensive battle in Becker.

With about six minutes left in the game, Becker mounted a drive to keep the clock rolling while holding on to the dainty two-point lead. With six minutes left on the clock, Becker faced a fourth down and 12 at the 32-yard line and the clock stopped. Incredibly, Fobbe rolled to his right again and delivered a perfectly thrown ball to Carter Hietala for 15 yards and what looked like a first down to secure the win.

Or so it seemed.

At the time Hietala  was reeling in the pass, back behind Fobbe and his offensive line, the referee chucked a yellow flag around midfield and it appeared the fourth down play was coming back for holding. But, while Hietala  was being wrestled to the turf at the 18-yard line, a Spartan committed a personal foul and another yellow hanky flew through the night sky.

These concurrent fouls  seemed to confuse the referees as the head linesman walked off the 10-yard holding penalty against Becker, then turned around and walked off the 15-yarder against Rocori. At the same time, the referee signaled it was once again fourth down, which drew Becker’s coaching staff off the sidelines to question the call.

After a lengthy chat amongst the striped-shirt game callers, the ball remained at the 38-yard line, but this time the officials signaled a first down for Becker. This drew the ire of Rocori Head Coach, James Herberg, as he stomped the field of play and argued otherwise.

It appeared for a while the referees were listening to Herberg’s gripes as they huddled once again to figure out what to do. Murmuring and heckling descended from the bleachers as the fan base begged for a sound decision. Moments later, the referees emerged from their conference, stood over the ball and the head ref pointed forward for a first down for the Bulldogs.

At that point, it appeared the game was signed, sealed and delivered for Becker, until they couldn’t run the clock out in the final few minutes. Eventually, Fobbe would punt the ball to the Rocori eight yard line, confident there wasn’t enough time and too much distance to cover for Rocori to overcome.

They just about fooled the Bulldogs as Steil navigated the gridiron like Joe Montana to Jerry Rice. 

They almost pulled off the miracle comeback. As we all know, however, a kicker can be the hero one time, or they can be the goat the next.

Fobbe finished with 83 yards through the air on 10-of-18 passing. He had one interception and scored one Bulldog TD on the ground.

Carter Callahan had a great night running between the tackles as he amassed 64 yards on 11 carries including a 45-yard jaunt. Koop had 29 yards on eight carries and one score.

Hietala finished with 62 yards on seven catches including a 22-yarder.

On defense, Brayden Weber led all with 10 tackles while Riley Morrell had five tackles, two assists and one sack.

For Rocori, Steil had 194 yards through the air on 11-of-23 passing and two TDs on the ground. His favorite receiver was Andrew Anderson who had five catches for 96 yards including a 33-yard catch and run. Tucker Haakonson also had a big night catching the pigskin, as he amassed 70 yards on two catches — one for 30 yards and one for 40.

On the ground, Luke Humbert gained 52 yards on 13 carries while Brady Linn garnered 24 yards on eight carries.

Becker finished with 193 total yards compared to Rocori’s 277. The Spartans had 16 first downs compared the Becker’s 10. Becker had eight penalties for 48 yards while Rocori had four penalties for 25 yards.

Up Next

The Bulldogs play Willmar next Friday then finish off the regular season Wed., Oct. 16 against Sartell. Both games will be covered for the Citizen-Tribune and appear in the Oct. 19th issue.