Rock Falls looking to rebound from Week 1 loss, turn tide in Stillman Valley series

ROCK FALLS – Coming off a 14-0 road loss to Rockford Christian in the season opener last week, the Rock Falls football team knows it must regroup quickly for its home opener Friday night at Hinders Field.

In Week 2, things won’t get any easier for the Rockets as they play host to Stillman Valley, fresh off a 15-7 overtime win over reigning Class 3A state champion Byron.

“They’re the same team they’ve been for years and years: very good at what they do, highly disciplined, great coaches, the consummate team that you want to be like,” Rock Falls coach Kevin Parker said. “And that’s our goal, is to get there. You’re going to see the same thing you’ve seen for years. They have no reason to change because it’s been successful for them all the time, but you’re going to see speed in the backfield, not necessarily some of the biggest linemen, but some of the best. And they play a great team game, so a difficult team for us this week.”

From a historical standpoint, the Cardinals have dominated the Big Northern Conference series, winning each of their last 10 games against Rock Falls. The last two meetings (in 2021 and 2019) were nearly identical, as Stillman Valley won 48-0. In 2018, it won 55-38.

To beat the Cardinals this time around, the Rockets know they’ll need to play a near-perfect game.

“We have to come out focused. We cannot beat ourselves,” Parker said. “We have to make plays when the opportunities are there, and close the deal. We’re going to have to play pretty much a perfect game to be in there, and at some point in time, we’re going to do that in this program.”

Junior running back/defensive back Kohle Bradley felt his team went into last year’s Stillman Valley game overconfident, coming off a Week 1 win. This year, he’s confident the Rockets won’t repeat that mistake.

“Last year, we lost – it was a shutout,” he said. “I think we just came in heads too high after our first win. That’s not going to happen again, and we’re going to see if we can beat them.”

Based on their recent history and review of the Week 1 film from Stillman Valley’s game against Byron, Rock Falls players know they’re in store for a difficult matchup this week.

Sophomore quarterback Easton Canales and Bradley expect to face a well-rounded team this Friday on their home turf.

“Really just strong kids up front. They fire off the ball very well,” Canales said. “They close in the gaps, especially against Byron, a strong team – they did really good closing the gaps and not allowing big plays. That’s really what I saw.”

“I know that they beat Byron. We’re going to treat it like they’re the best that we’re gonna ever face,” Bradley said. “They’re pretty good. Their defense is pretty strong, got a good offense, so it’ll be a good game.”

In years past, the Rockets have had some trouble responding to adversity in games. If they want to keep pace with the Cardinals – and hopefully win the game – they know they’ll need to have a short memory.

“Keeping our head up. Not letting one play discourage us and dictate the whole entire game, because one play we can return a touchdown, and the next play, they can return a touchdown, and then momentum shifts just like that,” Canales said. “We just gotta keep our head up and keep a short memory.”

Bradley felt last week’s game against Rockford Christian provided a valuable lesson for the young Rock Falls team.

“We learned a lot. We learned about our weaknesses on our offense, strengths on defense,” he said. “Just a few things that we gotta critique in order to get ready for this game.”

Parker saw some things to build on from the season opener, and hopes to carry those over into the second game.

“We learned that we need to make more plays. We put ourselves in some good positions to score, but we just didn’t. And we made mistakes here and there,” he said. “Every position is open every single week, so competition inside of our team is something that is going to continue in order for our team to get better.”

Rock Falls vs. Stillman Valley is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Hinders Field.