HUTCHINSON -- The ROCORI Spartans football team fell for the first time in the 2019 high school football season on Friday night on the road.
In their first road game of the regular season, the Spartans fell to the Hutchinson Tigers 36-20 in Week 3 of the year.
ROCORI opened up the game by jumping out to an early lead on the road, taking a 12-0 lead after one quarter thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Jack Steil, opening the scoring up with a 21-yard connection with Jayden Philippi before stretching things to a two-score game with a 47-yard touchdown to Andrew Anderson.
In the second quarter, Hutchinson was able to battle back into the contest after tallying two rushing touchdowns to carry a 16-12 advantage into halftime in Hutchinson.
Out of the break, ROCORI kicked off the second half on a quick note once again. The Spartans regained the lead in the game in the third quarter, when Steil connected with Colton Baumgarten for a 34-yard touchdown to push the Spartans out in front 20-16.
The Tigers, however, would end up closing out the game by holding the Spartans off the scoreboard while scoring three touchdowns in the latter portion of the third quarter and in the fourth to come away with a 36-20 win over ROCORI.
Steil went 13-of-26 with 228 yards and three touchdowns behind center, while tallying 43 yards rushing on 15 attempts on the ground, to lead the Spartans in the game.
Outside of Steil, Anderson tallied 94 yards receiving and one touchdown on five catches and Baumgarten had 52 yards receiving and one touchdown on three catches for ROCORI. Brady Linn added 37 yards rushing on eight carries on the ground for the Spartans.
With the loss, ROCORI dropped to 2-1 on the season heading into Week 4 of the regular season next week. The Spartans will remain on the road next Friday (Sept. 20), when they take on Delano at 7 p.m. in Delano.
In their first road game of the regular season, the Spartans fell to the Hutchinson Tigers 36-20 in Week 3 of the year.
ROCORI opened up the game by jumping out to an early lead on the road, taking a 12-0 lead after one quarter thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Jack Steil, opening the scoring up with a 21-yard connection with Jayden Philippi before stretching things to a two-score game with a 47-yard touchdown to Andrew Anderson.
In the second quarter, Hutchinson was able to battle back into the contest after tallying two rushing touchdowns to carry a 16-12 advantage into halftime in Hutchinson.
Out of the break, ROCORI kicked off the second half on a quick note once again. The Spartans regained the lead in the game in the third quarter, when Steil connected with Colton Baumgarten for a 34-yard touchdown to push the Spartans out in front 20-16.
The Tigers, however, would end up closing out the game by holding the Spartans off the scoreboard while scoring three touchdowns in the latter portion of the third quarter and in the fourth to come away with a 36-20 win over ROCORI.
Steil went 13-of-26 with 228 yards and three touchdowns behind center, while tallying 43 yards rushing on 15 attempts on the ground, to lead the Spartans in the game.
Outside of Steil, Anderson tallied 94 yards receiving and one touchdown on five catches and Baumgarten had 52 yards receiving and one touchdown on three catches for ROCORI. Brady Linn added 37 yards rushing on eight carries on the ground for the Spartans.
With the loss, ROCORI dropped to 2-1 on the season heading into Week 4 of the regular season next week. The Spartans will remain on the road next Friday (Sept. 20), when they take on Delano at 7 p.m. in Delano.