Prep football: Led by a blocked punt, Rocklin’s defense leads furious rally

The Rocklin Thunder played lights out Friday night.

Trailing Washington’s Glacier Peak Grizzlies, the Thunder rolled back to win the game 16-14 immediately after a brief power outage at Rocklin High School.

The Thunder got their first lead with 1 minute and 42 seconds left in the game, when Nate Martin blocked a punt which flew into the back of the end zone for a game-clinching safety.

It was a rough start for the Thunder. Their two starting running backs combined for less than 80 yards rushing in the first three and a half quarters. But right after the five-minute blackout in the fourth quarter, thunder struck. On the first play back, the Thunder ran a flea flicker when quarterback Joey Roberts tossed it back to Brody Desario, who launched a 38-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kaleb Larson.

Rocklin continued the momentum on its next drive, tying the game on a 17-yard touchdown rush by running back Mason Silva.

On the next drive, Glacier Peak couldn’t get anything going and was pushed back by the resilient Rocklin defense. The Thunder kept pushing Glacier Peak back through tackles and flags all the way back to the 2-yard line.

Then Martin made the game-winning blocked punt. Martin said it was the first time he had ever blocked a punt. And what a time to do it.

Although Rocklin failed to score until the final 10 minutes of the game, this team showed ability to continue the fight all the way through the end.

Coach Jason Adams loves to see it.

“We just keep working and working and my guys do a great job of physically keeping each other in check,” he said. “We just found a way to figure out what we were doing wrong in the game and corrected those mistakes throughout.”

Adams made sure to single out two stars. First, he praised the performance of senior receiver Kaleb Larson. Larson scored the first touchdown in addition to getting a 40-yard reception on the drive that led to the tying touchdown.

He also pointed out sophomore linebacker Derek Keeley. Keeley is filling in for injured star Derek Houston. Along with the rest of the defense, Keeley made some huge stops that allowed his team to stay in the game and mount a late comeback.

With the win, Rocklin moves to 4-1. The Thunder are set to go up against crosstown rivals Whitney next week.

Rivalry week already started Friday night as Whitney students filled up the away section at Rocklin as their team was on a bye. The away section was almost full as the Whitney students cheered on the visiting Glacier Peak team.

It wasn’t a perfect game. Rocklin’s struggles on offense were duly noted by Adams, who said he was happy his team stayed in the game and fought back.

Martin said Adams preaches that nonstop resilience in practice.

“Every single day he tells us to go compete at 110 percent,” Martin said.

This story was originally published September 24, 2022 at 7:44 AM.