Riding the winning high came to a bit of an end Friday as the Titusville Rockets fell to Hickory 56-21.
​
"We will be better because of tonight's game," said Rocket head coach Mike Reynolds. "There were things we started doing that we thought, 'we can do this.' We were playing against a team that is vying for a state championship."
In recent weeks the strategy for the Rockets has been to score first and set the tone.
​
Unfortunately Hickory won the toss Friday and elected to receive the first kickoff.

And they, like the Rockets the previous four weeks, took advantage by scoring quickly.
​
It only took the Hornet's three plays to go 66-yards. They then snuffed the Rockets on their first possession forcing a punt that they then returned to the Rockets' 16-yardline. It didn't take long for them to go up 14-0.
On the Rocket’s first possession they tried three straight quarterback keepers, but the second possession looked more like Rocket ball with moving the ball around to different players. 
​
A big fourth and a half yard conversion by Jaxon Covell kapt the eventual scoring drive alive.
​
Then a stunning bit of football happened.

McDonald was in the pocket and flushed out by a surging Hornet's swarm. He somehow escaped and then escaped again and even a third time before finding an opening to fire a bullet to Kameron Mong who was wide open in the endzone.

The Rockets seemed to be back in business, but on the next possession, Hickory’s quarterback Zander Telesz broke loose for an 88-yard run to go up 21-7.
​
Titusville again drove, but turned the ball over on downs. Three-minutes later Hickory was again in the end zone.

The Rockets again showed some mettle driving from their own 25 for another score.

Again McDonald scrambled around seemingly going to be dropped for a loss when he found some breathing room to rear back to give it everything he had to send one about 50-yards into the endzone to JJ Miller. 

At this point, they were only down two scores with less than a minute in the half. But on the drive Titusville's all-time rushing leader came out after a helmet to helmet collision.
​
Hickory wasn’t ready to go into the locker room. Morrison ran the kickoff back for another touchdown.

With 34 seconds left Titusville tried to pass and move the ball, but Jadon Phillips intercepted, taking it back to the Rocket five. 

Telesz then hit Phillips in the endzone to put the Hornets up 42-14 at the half.
​
In the second half both Covell and Aiden Yoder came out sans helmet and pads.

 Without key players a comeback wasn’t likely.

Titusville scored once more on a four-yard McDonald run.
​
McDonald passed for 194 yards and ran for another 67 to lead the Rockets. "It was a tough night tonight, but I'm proud of the fight. We'll go back and talk about the things we didn't do well and we will be better because of tonight's game.

The Rockets are now 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in the region. They hit the road to face Slippery Rock next week.

American Legion Post 368 commander Frank Nottingham joined the Titusville Rocket’s out at midfield for the national anthem.

​The Rockets were honoring our area veterans and first responders throughout their game against the undefeated Grove City Eagles.
​
The military theme continued into the game as general (coach) Mike Reynolds and his command staff sent their army of young men out onto the battlefield to take care of business.
And boy did they.

The Rocket offensive strikes were smashmouth and precise as they dominated right from the start in their 36-7 rain soaked and electrifying (literally) win at home. 
​
The Rockets took the opening kickoff and proceeded to march 65 yards down the field, taking less than four minutes to score their first touchdown on an Ian McDonald 1-yard run and Max Chatham extra point to go up 7-0.

McDonald carried most of the weight of that drive gaining 40 yards and punching it in over the line.
​
The Rockets defense was also primed to hold the line and prevent the Eagles from taking over too much territory.

After a stop, Titusville again marched right back down to the Grove City 22-yard line, poised for another strike and capture more territory when the first of two lightning delays stopped action for about an hour.
​
The PIAA officials must stop games for at least 30 minutes when lightning is visible.

At 8:21 p.m.play resumed. At 8:23p.m. they were back in the end zone on a four-yard run.A fake kick had McDonald scrambling around when he saw an opening where he could dive his way in to the end-zone to put the Rockets up 15-0.
​
Grove City was moving the ball at the beginning of the second quarter when Brody Sellen picked off a pass setting up Titusville’s third possession at their own 20. Covell found the end-zone two plays later with a 72 yard run.

​Chatham again split the uprights to take the Rockets to 22-0.
Grove City looked like they had some life in them when they took the kickoff and ran a reverse play to start their drive at midfield.

It shifted momentum in their favor and they again moved the ball.

​A controversial call that resulted in a Grove City catch helped them remain in possession and a few plays later they scored their first and only touchdown of the game.

WhenTitusville got the ball back on their own 25 with 5:50 remaining they would counter-strike and move the ball back down the field.

​By this time the skies opened up dumping gallon of water on the field.

The stands emptied fast. 

Not deterred, the Rockets methodically marched down the field and scored on a 17-yard Covell run with 4-seconds remaining to take the Rockets into half leading 29-7.

Lightning was back and it caused a second delay at the start of the second half.
​
When play resumed, not much was mustered by either squad until lake in the game Grove City caught a break recovering a muffed punt snap deep in Titusville’s territory.

​But they failed to capitalize giving the ball back to the Rockets.
​
A couple more Covell break-away runs found number 22 crossing the goal line for the fourth time on a 35-yard run  to give theRockets the 36-7 win. 

According to Titusville stat sheets Covell ran for 265 yards on 26 carries. Titusville had 346 yards in total offense and JJ Miller led the defense with 12 tackles.
​
The Rockets will face Conneaut Area next Friday night at home. CASH is 2-1 like the Rockets.

​Their only loss was last night to Hickory 63-6. But they opened the year with a 61-0 win over Warren and followed that with a 33-21 victory over Iroquois.

​The game is scheduled to go off at 7 p.m.

Titusville ended their winning 2023 season with a close victory over the Corry. They ran all over the Beavers with Jaxon Covell rushing for over 200 yards himself.
​
Now a year older and with many of the same weapons Titusville had reason to go into their opening round game with confidence.
​
But Corry had learned a few things from last year's game and was prepared.

They jammed up the line. The Rocket runners were often stopped in the backfield and corralled for either a loss or only a short gain.
​
In the end, Covell recorded only 67 yards on the ground in the 28-22 Titusville loss.

It wasn't the way coach Mike Reynolds and his Titusville Rockets wanted to begin the 2024 campaign. 

"We came in with a little bit of arrogance,” Reynolds said. “I came in feeling like 'yeah we can run the ball down their throat’ and they overloaded us in a couple ways that we didn't adjust to well early enough."
​
Reynolds takes the blame for not getting his team prepared to take on a better Corry team than they faced last year. "Corry is a good ball team," he said. "It came down to us not providing answers for our kids soon enough for our kids to be successful... that's on us (coaches).”
​
Titusville struggled out of the gate, going three and out gaining a net of only two yards on three carries. They held Corry but again couldn’t get anywhere on offense and ended their second possession with a punt.
​
When Corry got the ball back on their own 30, they went to work putting together big plays. Nolan Carey hit Mason Savitz for a big 30 yard pass play. Then facing fourth and eight, Carey hit Blake Cook for 38 yards and the first score of the game at 7:06 in the first.
​
Titusville countered, finally beginning to move the ball.

​Covell had two runs totaling 13 yards for the Rockets' first first down. McDonald hit JJ Miller for another 12 yards, but a penalty negated that play. But the Rockets were seeing how they could move the ball. After a sack, McDonald hit Covell for a big gain and another first down.

The drive was capped by a 17-yard scamper by Covell. It was the first of Covell’s three touchdowns on the night.
​
The fake kick resulted in a two-point conversion to put the Rockets up 8-7.
​
It looked like the Rockets had the momentum when they forced Corry to punt on the next possession. A muffed snap led to Titusville getting the ball in good field position on the Corry 28.

A couple plays later, however, the Rockets put the ball on the ground and gave it back to the Beavers.

Turnovers would plague them all night.

Corry went back to big plays and moved the ball fast down the field to score again, making it 14-8 midway through the second quarter.
​
McDonald showed his scrambling ability to elude the Beavers' blitzes and find ways to get positive yardage.

Titusville again put the ball on the ground, but, were fortunate it rolled out of bounds on the six-yard line. Three plays later they punched it over the line with a one-yard touchdown by Covell.
​
McDonald played escape artist on the two-point conversion to eventually find Kam Mong in the back of the end zone, putting them up 16-14 with 4:05 left in the half. It was enough time for Corry to strike again.
​
It only took Carey and crew five plays in two-minutes to go 67-yards to take back the lead 21-16.
​
Titusville had another chance to score, but a sack put them on their heels. A long pass attempt resulted in an interception to end their drive and the half.

Corry ate up a lot of the clock to start the second half but Titusville eventually stopped the Beavers and got the ball back.
​
Again Titusville moved the ball, mostly through the air on short passes and runs.

​An apparent touchdown pass by a scrambling McDonald was called back as an illegal forward pass thrown past the line of scrimmage. On a third and 17 McDonald was intercepted in the end-zone.

Then Corry took the ball 80 yards including an untouched 35-yard run by Nicholas Lesher with 10:08 to go in the game.

In their next possession, Titusville started in good field position and managed one first down before turning it over on downs with just over six minutes remaining.

​Up two scores, Corry decided to employ clock management and eat up as much time as they could by running the ball.

​A key first down forced Titusville to start using its timeouts with three and a half minutes remaining. It worked and Corry was forced to punt, pinning Titusville back on their own 17 with 3:18 left.
Needing two scores, the Rockets went to work in a hurry.
Aided by a personal foul at the end of a long pass play to Mong, Titusville found themselves on the Corry 36 in quick fashion.
​
At 2:21 remaining, Covell ran 25 yards to score off a short pass from McDonald and bring them to within six at 28-22.
​
Corry got the ball back after a failed onside kick attempt and ate out the game, ending on a punt with no return.
​
In the end, McDonald had 161 yards in the air and 183 total yards. Covell ran for 67 and added anther 78. Mong added 36 and Miller caught four passes for 44 yards. Miller had 11 of the teams 39 tackles on defense.

"There were a few things we needed to take advantage of and we didn't. We really just weren't patient, and that's on me," Reynolds said. "We were really trying to push the ball in the end zone when we really just needed to settle down.

​"In a game like this, if we took the time in the second quarter to put the ball in the end zone, the end of this game is totally different."

That very distinctive sound heard around the corner from Pasquale's Pizza is music to football lovers like head coach Mike Reynolds - it the crack of good shoulder pads coming together with force and determination.

​It's the echo off the historic concrete Carter Field football stadium of whistles, grunts from hard working players and the occasional up-level voice of a coach teaching passionately about the disciple and stray of being a football player on a football team.

​A lot of learning takes place between the conditioning and drills.

Again TMC couldn't get anything happening in the bottom of the eighth.

Little rules for extra innings starts the ninth off with a runner at second. A muffed bunt resulted in two runners on and they both ended in scoring position. Herman again buckled down and struck out the next two batters and the final out was recorded on a ground ball to second where Kylie Crocker, an absolute vacuum second baseman, rounded it up and tossed to Sam Bernoski at first to end the scoring threat.

Crocker basically set up an unpentratable wall between first and second all game all game. One inning recording all three outs agains Corry.

"I taught her a long time ago that the ball has strings on it and wherever that ball goes it pulls you in that direction," her dad/coach said. "I'm awful proud of her, obviously I have a little extra with that one as her dad. I'm proud of all these girls."

​In the bottom of the ninth TMC also started with a runner at second.

They got another runner on when Kylie Crocker drew a walk. Kennedy Baker laid down a decent bunt but a heads up play by the Corry pitcher recorded a force out at third. With only one out they still had two runners on.