A LEXANDRIA - Rocori quarterback Alex Budde scored three fourth quarter touchdowns to lead the No. 3 Rocori Spartans to a 21-6 victory over No. 1 Detroit Lakes to capture the Minnesota Section 8-4A football championship Friday night. “I feel good about this team,” said Budde. The Lakers took a 6-0 lead on the only first half touchdown by Ben Nordmark on an 11-yard run to cap a 10-play, 65 yard drive with 1:20 remaining until halftime. “We just didn’t make enough plays when we had the chance,” DL Head Coach Flint Motschenbacher said. “That hurt us, at times. We just weren’t sharp tonight on offense. We had a couple chances and we didn’t stick it in there and our drives stalled.” Both teams ate up the third quarter clock reaching the opponent’s red zone but came up empty. Budde found space and dominated the fourth quarter gaining 120 of his game-high 169 yards in the final 12 minutes. “We really sputtered in the first half,” Rocori Head Coach Mike Rowe said. “We made some good adjustments formationally, changing it up.” Budde tied the score from 45 yards out 32 seconds into the fourth quarter and kicker Nick Skluzacek’s point after try was good for the eventual game-winning point. “When Budde broke free it kind of just juiced us up and that’s what we needed to start believing again,” said Rowe.
Budde capped a nine-play 65-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run at 5:41 for a 14-6 lead. A Laker drive to tie stalled at the Rocori 41 and three plays later Budde sealed the game on a 62-yard sprint to paydirt and the 21-6 victory. “It’s just the offense,” Budde said. “They just make great blocks and I’m just trying to get in the end zone.” “He’s an exceptional football player and we knew that going in,” Motschenbacher said. “We were really geared to try to stop him. If you miss, and we did a good job containing him most of the night, and then he got loose and we had no one that could catch him.” The Rocori defense held Detroit Lakes to 219 yards of total offense. The Spartans put up 340. Budde rushed 17 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Budde also had a game-high 103 yards passing. Nordmark led the Lakers with 78 yards on 18 carries and the lone DL touchdown. DL finishes the season with a record of 9-1. Rocori improves to 7-4 and will face Becker in the state quarterfinals at St. Cloud State Saturday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. Laker results ROC 0 0 0 21 - 21 DL 0 6 0 0 - 6 Scoring: DL Nordmark 11 run (kick failed) ROC Budde 45 run (Skluzacek kick) ROC Budde 1 run (Skluzacek kick) ROC Budde 62 run (Skluzacek kick) A LEXANDRIA - Rocori quarterback Alex Budde scored three fourth quarter touchdowns to lead the No. 3 Rocori Spartans to a 21-6 victory over No. 1 Detroit Lakes to capture the Minnesota Section 8-4A football championship Friday night.“I feel good about this team,” said Budde.The Lakers took a 6-0 lead on the only first half touchdown by Ben Nordmark on an 11-yard run to cap a 10-play, 65 yard drive with 1:20 remaining until halftime.“We just didn’t make enough plays when we had the chance,” DL Head Coach Flint Motschenbacher said. “That hurt us, at times. We just weren’t sharp tonight on offense. We had a couple chances and we didn’t stick it in there and our drives stalled.”Both teams ate up the third quarter clock reaching the opponent’s red zone but came up empty.Budde found space and dominated the fourth quarter gaining 120 of his game-high 169 yards in the final 12 minutes.“We really sputtered in the first half,” Rocori Head Coach Mike Rowe said. “We made some good adjustments formationally, changing it up.”Budde tied the score from 45 yards out 32 seconds into the fourth quarter and kicker Nick Skluzacek’s point after try was good for the eventual game-winning point.“When Budde broke free it kind of just juiced us up and that’s what we needed to start believing again,” said Rowe.
Budde capped a nine-play 65-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run at 5:41 for a 14-6 lead.A Laker drive to tie stalled at the Rocori 41 and three plays later Budde sealed the game on a 62-yard sprint to paydirt and the 21-6 victory.“It’s just the offense,” Budde said. “They just make great blocks and I’m just trying to get in the end zone.”“He’s an exceptional football player and we knew that going in,” Motschenbacher said. “We were really geared to try to stop him. If you miss, and we did a good job containing him most of the night, and then he got loose and we had no one that could catch him.”The Rocori defense held Detroit Lakes to 219 yards of total offense. The Spartans put up 340. Budde rushed 17 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Budde also had a game-high 103 yards passing.Nordmark led the Lakers with 78 yards on 18 carries and the lone DL touchdown.DL finishes the season with a record of 9-1. Rocori improves to 7-4 and will face Becker in the state quarterfinals at St. Cloud State Saturday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. Laker resultsROC 0 0 0 21 - 21DL 0 6 0 0 - 6Scoring:DL Nordmark 11 run (kick failed)ROC Budde 45 run (Skluzacek kick)ROC Budde 1 run (Skluzacek kick)ROC Budde 62 run (Skluzacek kick)
