Football: Big Third Quarter Propels Houston Past Nicollet

Nine-man football can often be a track meet and the cross-district match-up of Houston (1-0) and Nicollet (0-0) was just that. But in a game where each team scored points in three of four quarters, it was the one quarter where a team went scoreless where the verdict was sealed. A back-and-forth first saw the Hurricanes fall behind 12-0 and twice trail by double digits. An early second quarter score put Nicollet up 18-8. The teams combined for six TDs and each had 20 second quarter points. The Raiders held a 32-28 halftime lead. But the deciding third quarter saw Houston blank Nicollet 22-0 to take a 50-32 lead. Maddox Rodriguez’s 1-yard TD run gave Houston its first lead at 34-32. He subsequently returned an interception 40-yards for another score. With conversion, Houston went ahead 42-32. Aden Kulas added a 1-yard TD run later in the quarter. After a Raider score in the fourth, Kulas’ second TD run (15-yarder) pretty much put the game away, as it gave Houston a 58-38 lead. Cody Hungerholt’s ‘Canes prevailed 58-44 to improve to 1-0 in the South-East, 2-0 overall. They won just one game last year. Rodriguez, a junior tailback, posted his second straight 100-yard, 3 TD rushing effort (24-169, 3 TDs). He accounted for four total TDs with the interception return and over 200 yards offense with his receiving work (2-52 receiving). Kulas (16-70, 2 TDs rushing) and Zach Olson (6-68 rushing) helped Houston run for over 300 yards. Austin Groth added a 3-yard TD run while Z-Olson had an 80-yard second quarter kickoff return TD. Morgan Rohweder (3 of 9, 56 yards) was only asked to pass nine times to Houston’s 60 rushing attempts. Lee Klunder had a team-high 14 total tackles. Houston (1-0, 2-0) harvested six interceptions. Z-Olson had two, Rodriguez, Klunder, Kulas, and Jordon Beeman each one. In their two wins, Houston has now scored 94 points while giving up 78!