Anna’s Zach Osborn cuts upfield during a nonconference game against Brookville on Friday at Booster Field.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Aaron Shappie speeds past a Brookville defender during a nonconference game on Friday at Booster Field.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Alex Shappie hurls a pass while brother Aaron holds off Brookville’s defense during a nonconference game on Friday at Booster Field.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Clay Cummins celebrates with his teammates after recovering a fumble during a nonconference game against Brookville on Friday at Booster Field.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Aaron Shappie kicks an extra point while Carson Pleiman holds during Friday’s game against Brookville at Anna high school.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
Anna’s Alex Shappie celebrates after a rushing touchdown on Friday during the Rockets game against Brookville at Anna high school.
Ryan Harless | Sidney Daily News
ANNA — The Anna Rockets (2-0) had four different scorers, beating the Brookville Blue Devils (1-1) 46-20 on Friday at Booster Field.
“We have some really good skill kids,” Rockets head coach Nick Marino said. “They’re pretty explosive and we had nice blocking on the perimeter.”
Senior Clay Cummins got the scoring kicked off for Anna with a 17-yard reception from quarterback Alex Shappie. After a missed PAT, the Rockets had an early 6-0 lead.
The Blue Devils fought back and tied the game with 1:39 to play in the first quarter with a 49-yard touchdown reception and missed PAT.
Early in the second quarter, senior Aaron Shappie had a huge 40-yard reception to put Anna in Brookville territory. Alex Shappie finished the job with 9:02 in the second with a short rushing touchdown to give the Rockets a 12-6 lead following another missed PAT.
“A lot of our guys are really unselfish,” Anna quarterback Alex Shappie said. “We spread the ball around to everybody. The O-line played great, I didn’t get sacked tonight.”
A few plays into the Blue Devils drive, Cummins recovered a fumble at midfield to keep the Rockets’ momentum going.
Early in Anna’s drive, Aaron Shappie broke the Brookville defense and scored on a 40-yard run. After a successful PAT, the Rockets led 19-6.
Anna stayed strong on defense with sophomore Grant Beckman notching a sack to force a punt and give the Rockets the ball in Blue Devils territory again to start their drive.
Alex Shappie kept his legs moving, adding another touchdown before the half on a 27-yard run. A converted PAT stretched Anna’s lead to 26-6 with 5:10 to play in the second.
“I’m a lot more comfortable back in the pocket,” Alex Shappie said. “When I see something, I take off and make quick decisions.”
Brookville got back on the board on a 35-yard run to cut the lead to 12 after a successful two-point conversion with 4:00 on the clock.
The Rockets fired back with a quick touchdown with 0:18 left in the half when Zach Osborn caught a 10-yard pass from Alex Shappie. Anna took a 33-14 lead at the half.
Osborn made a quick impact in the second half, sacking the Blue Devils quarterback, forcing a fumble and taking it to the house to extend the Rocket’s lead to 40-14 with 11:49 in the third.
Brookville fought back with a short touchdown with 7:15 to cut the lead to 40-20.
“I thought we got a little tired defensively,” Marino said. “We didn’t get some stops later in the game that we did earlier.”
Osborn got his third touchdown of the night on a 10-yard run, a failed PAT gave Anna a 46-20 lead that it held until the clock reached 0.
The Rockets have their first taste of conference play next Friday when they take on the Minster Wildcats at home at 7 p.m.
