CG-Belgium easily wins third straight

Occasional rain and the fact one of its star players was missing didn’t stop the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School football team Friday night, and Manitowoc Lutheran didn’t either.

The Rockets pitched their first shutout of the season in their Big East Conference opener at home, 31-0.

A swarming, hard-hitting defense held the Lancers to 104 yards of offense and thwarted a fake punt.

On offense, Rocket quarterback Logan Arrowood was an efficient 8-for-11 for 146 yards and a touchdown, without his favorite target, Big East first team wide receiver and defensive back Sam Peiffer, who was forced to sit out due to a targeting call a week earlier in a 32-21 win at Sheboygan Falls.

The Rockets’ running game more than made up for it. Deven Soerens ran 10 times for 132 yards and a touchdown, and Arrowood had 70 carries and a score on seven rushes.

“Rain, sunshine, it’s all good. We run the ball,” Soerens said. “We pounded it down their throat, and we got the job done.”

“We knew we could run the ball,” coach Dan Schreurs said.

“We weren’t going to be a big home run hitting team like we normally are. We’re still going to take our shots. Five yards is a good play for us. I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the offensive line for what they did.”

The air game struck first. Arrowood hit a streaking Gabe Egan down the left sideline for a 57-yard bomb late in the first quarter.

“We talked about that all week that we wanted to get Gabe open down the sideline. Front line gave me plenty of time, Gabe made the play and brought it to the house,” Arrowood said.

Egan said, “I was running deep and looked up. He took a little bit to throw it. It just fell right in my arms.”

The Rockets used a big second quarter to pull away. On third and 14 from their own 42-yard line, Arrowood lofted a ball to Colten Sellin, who made the first down by inches.

On the next play, Arrowood raced 44 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.

The Rockets forced a punt, then marched 95 yards in four minutes. Soerens had 72 yards on three carries in the drive.

Sellin capped it by running eight yards off right tackle for a touchdown with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left in the half. He had nine runs for 30 yards.

“Our O-line pretty much dominated the whole game. The holes are pretty big. We’ve just got to make some plays in the open field, make people miss,” Sellin said.

After getting the ball back with little time left in the second quarter, the Rockets moved to the Lancers’ seven-yard line before Ethan Minick, who made some solid tackles on defense, drilled a 24-yard field goal.

It was 24-0 at half.

Soerens added a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Rocket backups helped preserve the shutout.

Soerens stopped a fake punt in the second half, storming through the line and tackling the ball carrier before he could get going.

Soerens knew the fake was coming.

“I could tell when the center was about to snap it, he twisted his wrist a little bit,” he said.

Many of the Lancers’ short passes behind the line of scrimmage were gaining minimal yards, and August Hecker ran hard 13 times to get 46 yards for an average rush of 3.5 yards.

The Lancers, Schreurs said, were hard to gauge on film but he knew one thing.

“They always start very strong. They’re an aggressive football team,” he said.

Egan led Rockets’ receivers with three catches for 75 yards and a score. Sellin caught three balls for 61 yards.

Starters began being pulled late in the third quarter for the Rockets, who went to 3-0. The Lancers slipped to 1-2.

The Rockets host their bitter rival on Friday, which is 1-2 this season.

“Oostburg week, baby. It’s go time,” Schreurs said.