In a game that was competitive until the final minutes, Moline pulled away late and earned its first conference win of the season, 28-10 over Rock Island, Friday night at Browning Field.
The Maroons were without RB Adrian Cooper, but didn’t miss a beat, with Pablo Perez (20 carries, 172 yards) opening the scoring with a 4-yard TD run with 3:23 left in the 1st quarter. Rocky’s Garr Tarr (19 carries, 125 yards, named the Hungry Hobo Rock Island Rocks Player of the Game) tied the contest with a 52-yard dash to the end zone with 9:47 left in the 2nd. But Moline answered with a Perez 41-yard TD run just 2:33 later to give the Maroons a 14-7 halftime lead.
In the 3rd quarter, Jonas Cortez nailed a 23-yard field goal to pull the Rocks within 14-10, but Moline again responded with a big play, a 50-yard TD pass from Elijah Taylor to Zander Ealy for a 21-10 advantage. After recovering a Rocky fumble, the Maroons drove 63 yards in 8 plays early in the 4th, capped off by a 4-yard TD run by Corbin Schnell, who nearly doubled his previous season rushing total, with 155 yards on 17 carries. Schnell was named the Godfather’s Pizza Moline Maroons Player of the Game. The Maroons then recovered another Rock Island fumble inside their 5 yard line with 3:09 to go to seal the victory.
Moline is 2-3, 1-2 in Western Big 6 play. The Maroons will be 3-3, 2-2 when credited with a forfeit win in what would have been their game vs Alleman next Friday. On the field, they will visit United Township (1-4, 0-3) on October 6th, presented by Sexton Ford. Rock Island (0-5, 0-2) plays host to UT next Friday, presented by Wheelan-Pressly.