 TOLEDOROCKETS.NETYour source for information on Rocket Football! |
TOLEDOROCKETS.NETYour source for information on Rocket Football! |
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By Brian Nowicki The Toledo Rockets put together one of their best efforts of the season as they defeated the Akron Zips 35-20 tonight at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, OH. Jalen Parmele rushed for 145 yards and one touchdown to pace a Rocket rushing attack that ran for 175 yards and scored four rushing touchdowns. True freshman quarterback Aaron Opelt was 8 of 16 passing for 97 yards with no touchdown passes and no interceptions. Nothing great, but nothing bad either as the freshman quarterback gave the Rockets a solid effort and even scored a 1 yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter to cap off a 98 yard drive by the Rockets. In the fourth quarter last week at Eastern Michigan the Rockets seemed to get back to running the football and they continued that theme tonight. Toledo ran the ball 50 times and passed just 17 times, gaining 175 yards on the ground and 139 yards through the air for a total of 314 yards. Two key plays in the game were trick plays by the Rockets. Early in the 4th quarter, with a 21-10 Rocket lead, QB Aaron Opelt threw a lateral behind the line of scrimmage to wide receiver Nick Moore. It looked like another pass towards the sideline, but Nick suddenly pulled up and threw a pass to a wide open Chris Hopkins. Hopkins had to slow up to make the catch, but it resulted in a 42 yard first down play that setup a Jalen Parmele two yard touchdown run to make the score 28-10 in favor of Toledo with 13:00 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. The second trick play came late in the 4th quarter with the Rockets clinging to a 28-20 lead with just under 2:00 minutes to play. It was 4th down and the Rockets lined up for a 36 yard field goal. However, the holder took the snap and handed it off to true freshman kicker Alex Steigerwald, who showed some pretty good speed in racing 19 yards for the touchdown to give the Rockets a 35-20 lead. The Rockets are now 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the MAC. Next up they will travel to Dekalb, IL to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies on Tuesday, November 7th. The game will be televised on ESPN2. In fact, each of the Rockets three remaining games will air on ESPN2 (at Northern Illinois, vs Ball State, and vs Bowling Green). UT vs Akron Pre Game Photos -- UT vs Akron Game Photos Have a question or comment for Brian? Email |