By Wade Linville – 

The Fayetteville-Perry Rockets suffered a loss to Blanchester in week nine on the gridiron, while the Western Brown Broncos fell to Wilmington in a league contest on the road, Oct. 20.
The Rockets stood at a league record of 1-3 after falling to the visiting Blanchester Wildcats 44-6 in week nine on the gridiron.
The Rockets faced a 21-point deficit in the first quarter of play before Fayetteville’s senior quarterback Luke Wiederhold delivered a perfect pass to  junior Bowen Doane, who smoked his defender down the left side of the field, for a 79-yard touchdown reception at the end of the first period. The kick for the extra point was blocked by the visiting Wildcats, and with one quarter in the books it was Blanchester leading 21-6.
The Rockets failed to reach pay dirt again against the sturdy Wildcat defense, while the Blanchester offense went on to score 16 points in the second quarter to hold a 37-6 lead at halftime en route to a 44-6 victory.
The Wildcats totaled 450 yards of offense, 225 passing yards and 225 rushing yards.
The Rockets totaled 231 offensive yards with 175 passing yards and 56 rushing yards.
Blanchester quarterback Brayden Sipple threw for all 225 of the Wildcats’ passing yards and three touchdowns.
Leading the Wildcats’ ground game was Brent Hopkins, who took eight carries for 108 yards with three touchdowns.
Doane led Rocket receivers with three catches for 97 yards, scoring Fayetteville’s only touchdown of the game.
The Rockets were scheduled to host the unbeaten Bethel-Tate Tigers in week 10 on the gridiron, Oct. 27. It was a big start and an even bigger finish by the home standing football team of Wilmington High School that led to the Broncos’ eighth loss of the season.
Wilmington put up 21 points in the first quarter and 28 more in fourth quarter to pull off a 56-35 victory, upping their overall record to 6-3 on the season while the Broncos dropped to 1-8.
The Broncos trailed 21-7 at the end of the first quarter but battled back to outscore Wilmington 14-7 in the second period. At halftime, the Broncos trailed by only seven 28-21.
The Broncos scored the only touchdown of the third quarter to tie the game at 28 apiece, but it was Wilmington Hurricanes dominating the final frame. They would outscore the Broncos 28-7 in the fourth period to come away with a 21 point victory.
The Hurricanes totaled 510 yards of offense compared to the Broncos’ 341 offensive yards.
The Broncos totaled 331 passing yards with the Hurricanes passing for 225 yards.
The Hurricanes relied heavily on their ground game, racking up 285 rushing yards compared to the Broncos’ 10.
Wilmington quarterback Mason McIntosh threw for 225 passing yards with three touchdowns while Western Brown’s junior quarterback Josh Taylor threw for a total of 321 passing yards with three touchdowns.
Western Brown’s senior receiver Wyatt Fischer hauled in 15 catches for 169 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Western Brown’s senior running back pulled down four catches for 61 receiving yards and one touchdown.
The Broncos will host Batavia (4-5) for their final game of the regular season on Oct. 27.