The Battle of Diagonal Road is officially back on. The Streetsboro Rockets’ football team reignited the neighborhood rivalry against Portage County foe Kent Roosevelt with an offensive eruption, winning 42-7 last Friday evening at Roosevelt Stadium in Kent.
“It is no secret that the strength of our team is on the offensive and defensive lines,” Coach Pete Thompson. “We have to complete some passes and we left some stuff on the field. We are fortunate we did not get in that situation where we were backed up in long yardage situations. We talked to our kids all week that it was going to be a line of scrimmage game.”
It marked the first time since the 2014 season that the teams had faced each other in a football game. Despite being Portage County rivals, the schools had only been Portage Trail Conference Metro Division rivals for four years, with the Rough Riders holding an edge against Streetsboro (2-0, 0-0) by beating them three out of the four times, as the Rockets prevailed in the final conference duel before Kent Roosevelt left the PTC.
The rivalry will now resume for the foreseeable future, as the Rough Riders will be joining the Metro Athletic Conference next year, adding higher stakes to an already fierce neighborhood rivalry.
“It is huge,” said senior defensive/offensive lineman Arthur Scott. “For the past time of the rivalry, Kent Roosevelt has been dominating us so the last time we played was 11 years ago. For us to get this win was big for the community and was big for the team and big for the school.”
On Friday, the Rockets were a model of efficiency in the first half, scoring a touchdown on their first five drives.
Streetsboro set a physical tone on its opening drive by rushing on every play, with junior running back/defensive back Logan Fincham capping off a 13-play, 63-yard drive by scoring on a three-yard touchdown run, giving the Rockets a 7-0 lead.
The Rough Riders’ offense presented a different challenge for Streetsboro, featuring a passing-heavy attack but Streetsboro’s defense met the challenge, as junior tight end/linebacker Kyle Giacamo intercepted Kent Roosevelt junior quarterback/linebacker Gavin Peeps on third down and returned the ball to Streetsboro’s 49.
The Rockets converted off of the turnover, needing only three plays as Fincham once again scored, this time on a nine-yard touchdown run, doubling Streetsboro’s lead to 14-0.
Kent Roosevelt’s passing attack started yielding results on the ensuing drive, as the Rough Riders marched down the field on a 12-play, 63-yard drive that ended with the 6-foot-5 Peeps connecting with senior wide receiver/defensive back Theodore Maccarone on a five-yard touchdown pass, trimming the Rockets’ lead to 14-7.
According to Scott, a University of Wisconsin commit, defending against a pass-first offense certainly kept Streetsboro’s defense on its toes.
Streetsboro continued to lean on its rushing game and that strategy proved fruitful, as it scored a touchdown on its next three drives, with senior tailback/linebacker Janiere Cook scoring on touchdown runs of one and 10 yards and junior quarterback Colton Cox adding a four-yard touchdown run, extending the Rockets’ advantage to 35-7.
As elusive as Peeps was, once the Rockets’ defensive line started getting pressure on him, that sped him up and caused the junior quarterback to get out of rhythm.
“He’s a dancer and is going to get out of the pocket and move around inside the pocket,” noted Scott. “If we can let him know that we are also athletes and can get after him and put some pads on him, that is the most important part, so it was a momentum shift for the whole team on both sides.”
Meanwhile, the Rockets’ rushing attack was short-handed, missing junior running back/defensive back Marcus Council due to injury but Cook anchored the run game, tallying 160 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.
“It felt great,” Cook said. “My guys trusted me, and my coach trusted me. It just felt great to be able to come out and be a leader.”
The nine-year Rockets’ coach highlighted Cook’s impact not only in Friday’s game but over the last three years.
“He was maybe a little overshadowed last year at times,” Thompson acknowledged. “Janiere averaged about eight yards a carry. He is probably the smartest kid on our offense. He is football-savvy and understands our offense inside and out and in fact we can put him at receiver, put him at both our running back positions and he played 10 snaps last week at quarterback.”
After forcing another Kent Roosevelt punt at the beginning of the second half, Cook continued to dominate, running for a 32-yard touchdown, increasing the lead to 42-7 and triggering the running clock.
The Rockets will welcome Alliance to Rockets Stadium’s Quinn Field on Friday at 7 p.m.
