RM showed its all-around dominance this Friday in its 49-19 win over Wootton High School. With a slight breeze on a beautiful fall Friday night, RM (3-0) took the field against the Wootton Patriots (2-1) on Wootton’s home field. After captains junior Adam Tounkara, junior Nick Wissinger, senior Zavier Ledyard, and senior Tylen Hebron took the field for the opening words from the referees, the Wootton marching band performed the national anthem with a majestic sunset background.

Hebron and junior Daryn Alexander raised their firsts during the anthem, showing support for the recent movement for racial equality.

The Rockets defense came right out of the gates strong. Impressive pass pressure from Tounkara and remarkable pass coverage by senior Greg Heredia early on helped the Rockets force a fourth-and-out for the Patriots on the first possession of the game.

RM’s first offensive possession of the game picked up where the team left off from the past three games, Coach Klotz continued to pound the run game. The offensive line shut down the Patriots’ line, opening up large holes for Hebron to burst through. On a crucial fourth down, Hebron followed closely behind Wissinger and picked up substantial yardage for a first down.  After the rush by Hebron, the Rockets were set in prime scoring position. Two plays later, Spencer Silverstein dished a shovel pass to Zion Ledyard, who scored the first points of the game. Soon after, Jonathan Harwood knocked in the PAT, and RM then led 7-0.

Wootton’s ensuing possession was heavily reliant on the passing game. The Patriots were unable to bring carries past the Rocket defensive line, but they were able to convert two consecutive first downs through the air. The Rockets were unable to stop the air attack, as the Patriots’ quarterback connected with a receiver for a 22-yard touchdown. Hebron blocked the PAT, preventing the tie. Rockets would still lead by a score of 7-6.

The next RM drive ended quickly after failing to pick up a first down. Hebron once again demonstrated his versatility, booting a deep 59-yard punt to pin the Patriots back behind their own 20 yard line.

Three plays into the possession, Zaire Mitchell-Paden broke through Wootton’s defensive line and sacked their quarterback, forcing a fumble. Tounkara recovered the ball and the Rockets were set up in great field position. On the very next play, Silverstein lobbed the ball to Mitchell-Paden who brought it in for Silverstein and RM’s second score of the game. Harwood split the uprights on the PAT, and the Rockets extended their lead out to 14-6 as the quarter began to wind down.

As the second quarter began, the Patriots were putting together a seemingly promising drive, as they converted multiple first downs and gained yardage off of Rocket penalties. However, once Wootton had reached the red-zone, multiple penalties on a single play brought them all the way back to the 49 yard line for a second-and-36. Alexander intercepted the desperate lob and took it for a nice return, shifting the momentum back towards the Rockets.

On a crucial third down, Silverstein scrambled out of the pocket, picking up 23 yards and bringing the Rockets closer to the end zone.  On the very next play, Hebron took the ball 16 yards for his second score of the night. Harwood hit his third PAT of the night, lengthening RM’s lead to 21-6 with just over four minutes to play in the half.

The Wootton kick returner broke free from the pack on the kickoff and had what seemed to be an open-field, but junior Zion Tyler came from across the field to bring down the runner and prevent a potential touchdown.

After a few uneventful plays, the Wootton quarterback was able to connect with a receiver for a long touchdown to shorten the lead. After the failed two-point conversion, the Rockets’ lead was brought down to just nine points, by a score of 21-12.

RM started their possession on their own 15 yard line after good special teams defense from Wootton. The drive was opened up by a monster rush by Hebron, picking up 60 yards while the clock quickly began to wind down. On fourth down, with just seconds to go in the half, Silverstein hurled a bullet to Zion Ledyard for Silverstein’s third and Ledyard’s second touchdown of the game. Harwood’s accuracy continued as he notched his fourth PAT of the game, broadening the lead to 28-12 at the half.

The Rockets took the touchback on the second half’s opening kickoff. Silverstein helped pick up a big first down to ignite the offense and the RM crowd. The Rockets repeated the shovel pass play to Zion Ledyard, who ran for a big first down keeping the drive alive.

A few plays later, Hebron took the handoff from Silverstein and ran hard, breaking five tackles and juking out multiple defenders on the way to his second touchdown of the night. The play silenced the loud home crowd as Hebron produced a play most had never seen on a high school football field. Harwood extended his accuracy streak, knocking in his fifth consecutive PAT to put the Rockets ahead even further by a score of 35-12.

The Rocket defense showed up again on the ensuing Patriot possession, as they sacked the quarterback and deflected multiple passes to force the Patriots to punt the ball away. Alexander fielded the punt, and behind great blocks, spun and juked his way all the way past the fifty yard line and into Patriot territory.

Kris Ricks picked up a first down to keep the drive going for RM, and the very next play was a handoff to Hebron who broke through the defense to rack his up third touchdown of the game. Harwood successfully added the point, and the Rockets went up by 30 as the time ran down in the third quarter.

The Rockets began the fourth quarter on a rather sour note, as the secondary was called for pass interference which moved the Patriots dramatically closer to the end zone. However the Rockets’ defense would prevail, forcing the turnover-on-downs. After failing to successfully get out of their own deep territory on third down, RM elected to punt the ball back to Wootton.

After several plays on the Patriots’ possession, Alexander stripped the Patriot receiver of the ball and Mitchell-Paden recovered the ball to shift possession back to RM. With time in the game slowly ticking away, Zion Tyler came into the game to take the carries for the Rockets. With 2:30 to play in the game, Tyler broke free from the pile, running the ball into the end-zone for his first career varsity touchdown. After the team was done swarming him on the sideline, Harwood kicked his seventh PAT of the night, pushing the Rockets even further ahead, by a score of 49-12.

Following the kick return, Wootton’s quarterback connected with a receiver for a long touchdown with just seconds left in the game. After a successful PAT, the score became 49-19, which would be the final score as well.

When asked how he has taken his game to the next level, breakout star Zion Ledyard told The Tide, “I would say pushing myself to the limit during practice, listening to my coaches advice all week about what I needed to improve on and our opponent, and studying a lot of film to critique myself.”

Ledyard and the rest of the Rockets look to continue their winning streak and undefeated season next week at Walter Johnson High School.