By Michael Rupp
The 0-5 Royals traveled to Alta-Aurelia High School on October 1st to face off against the 3-2 Warriors. The Royals went into the night still missing a few key starters due to injury. Senior linebacker Carson Pick was ruled out for the season after dislocating his knee cap last Friday against South O’Brien. Junior Kam Steffen, Senior Keegan Stevens, and Sophomore Jonah Petersen were all sidelined as well due to injury.
MMCRU kicked off to start the game. The Royals came out with a different look on defence, running a 4-4 rather than their normal 3-5, due to the lack of healthy linebackers. Alta-Aurelia spread the field early against the Royals. Junior Quarterback Carson Reinheart marched the offense 49 yards down the field, and ended the first drive with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Senior Preston McCoy.
McCoy had a big night against the Royals with 4 receptions for 86 yards and a receiving touchdown. He also carried the ball 8 times for 21 yards and picked up another rushing touchdown.
The Warriors scored two more times in the first quarter. Junior Kaden Stites ran in a 9 yard touchdown, and after another defensive stand by Alta-Aurelia, the Warriors got fancy. Sophomore wide receiver Cale Brechwald found Freshman Gavin Sleezer 35 yards downfield on the reverse pass for a touchdown. The score at halftime was 22-0
The Warriors would score another 21 points in the 3rd quarter, making the score 43-0, before putting the Junior Varsity team in the 4th quarter.
Quarterback KC Nicks went 4/14 passing for only 35 yards, but ran the ball well. He carried the ball 8 times for 92 yards. Running back Eban Hicks had 24 carries on the night for 60 yards.
The Royals move to 0-6 with this loss, and remain in last place in district A-1.