Pg. 12 • Mount Vernon Signal • Thursday, September 20, 2012

Rocket senior running back Damien McDaniel is shown picking up yardage onone of his 14 carries for 171 yards against Pulaski County last Friday night.

Rocket safety Tommy Shaffer forced a safety by tackling Maroon running backTyler Goins in his own end zone last Friday night. The Rockets went into halftimewith a 2-0 lead but Pulaski County put up an unanswered 20 points in the secondhalf to make the final score 20-2.

Rocket senior Chris Wren is shown making a tackle against Pulaski County lastFriday night. Wren had 10 total tackles against the Maroons.

By: Doug PonderThe Rockcastle County

Rockets dropped to two andthree on the season follow-ing a 20-2 loss at PulaskiCounty last Friday night.

The Rockets outplayedthe Pulaski County Maroonsin the first half, taking a 2-0lead into the locker room,after senior Tommy Shafferforced a safety by tacklingMaroon running back TylerGoins in his own end zone.The Rockets also outgainedPulaski County on offensein the first half with 145 to-tal yards compared to theMaroon’s 23 yards.

However, after halftimethe Rockets momentumstalled and the Maroons putup an unanswered 20 pointsagainst the Rockets. TheMaroons also had 235 totalyards on offense in the sec-ond half compared to theRockets 16.

Head Coach ScottParkey said his team’s in-ability to capitalize ontouchdown opportunitiesduring the first half provedto be the deciding factor inthe game as the Rocketswere inside the PulaskiCounty red zone on threeseparate occasions andfailed to score a single point.

“Missed opportunitiesreally cost us the game andwe didn’t capitalize whenwe had the ball inside the 20yard line,” Parkey said. “Wehad about two or threedropped balls that couldhave led to points on of-fense.”

Parkey said he thoughthis team played hard againstthe Maroons but he said allthe effort was wasted whenthey failed to score.

“Unfortunately, we left alot of points on the field,”Parkey said. “This is reallyhard to deal with when youknow the boys are giving iteverything they have and

outplaying their opponentfor the biggest part of thegame.”

The Rocket offense wasled by senior running backDamien McDaniel with 14carries for 171 yards. Seniorfullback Tommy Shaffer hadsix carries for 18 yards andjunior running back JacobBussell carried the ball eighttimes for 14 yards.

Junior quarterback CoreyMcPhetridge was 5 for 13passing for 27 yards.McPhetridge also had oneinterception.

McDaniel also led the re-ceiving corps, catching threepasses for 17 yards. Re-ceiver Tyler Harper caughtone pass for eight yards andShaffer caught one pass fortwo yards.

Defensively, the Rocketswere led by Bussell who hadsix tackles and one recov-ered fumble. Defensive backTyler Smith also had a bignight with four tackles andone interception.

Other Rockets picking uptackles were McDaniel witheleven, Chris Wren ten,Chance Ansardi nine, BooneSaylor seven, BrandonJones and Shaffer six each,Eli Haddix and Jared Lakewith five, McPhetridge twoand Austin Spoonamore andHarper were both creditedwith one tackle.

Saylor and Lake both ledthe Rockets in sacks withone each.

The Rockets will play inthe UNITE Bowl duringtheir Homecoming againstthe Perry Central Commo-dores this Friday night at7:30.

Last year the Rocketsshut out the Commodores22-0 in Hazard. This yearParkey believes his teamwill get another win sincethey have the advantage ofplaying the Commodores athome this year.

“The kids have decidedthey will accept nothing buta win against Perry Central,”Parkey said. “Both theUNITE Bowl and Home-coming always draws in abig crowd to the game so ourkids know we can’t let ourfans down.”

The UNITE Coalitionwill also be hosting a tail-gate party with free foodfrom 6 to 7 p.m. There willalso be a “Red Balloon Me-morial” launch at halftime inhonor of those who are af-fected by drug use. Thehomecoming festivities willalso take place during half-time.

UNITE will also paytribute to RepresentativeDanny Ford and SenatorJared Carpenter forpartnering with UNITEthrough legislation in Frank-fort. For their tribute, thhetwo legislators will assistwith the coin toss, lead ev-eryone on the field for theRed Balloon Memoriallaunch and present theUNITE Bowl trophy to thewinning team.

BuccaneersFund-Raiser

The Buccaneers Cheer-leader Squad will hold afundraising event at LoneStar Farm Home and Sup-ply on Sat., Sept. 29th from9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will featuregrilled hot dogs with all thefixings, great baked goodsand changes on several do-nated raffle items donatedby local businesses. Withany purchase or donation,your name will be entered ina drawing for a Fall Enter-tainment Package donatedby Melinda’s CelebratingHome and Decor.

All proceeds will be usedfor uniform warm-up suits,trophies and award celebra-tion.

Now 2-3 on season

Rockets shutout in secondhalf at Pulaski County

The Cedar Rapids Dolphins swim team recently completed their swim season with a second place finish in theSouthern Kentucky Swim Conference. The team is coached by Carrie Mullins and Amy Nicely. High point awardwinners for 2012 were: Emerick Goff, Isabella Whitaker, Will Bishop, Keelee King, Dawson Nicely, Laurel Yates,JD Hamilton, Savannah Goff, Thomas Burdette, Rachel Cain, Joseph Hunt, Lauren Burton, Ashton Arvin and SydneyArvin. Most improved 10 and under went to Creed Gabbard. Most improved 11 and older went to Emily Deubel.Lauren Burton had the best conference performance for points. Ella Bussell and Colin Hamilton had the best confer-ence performance in time for 10 and under. Mackenzie King and Zoe Burdette had the best conference performancein time for 11 and older. 110% award and overall high point award went to Sydney Arvin.

We would like to congratulate the Kentucky Full Throttle-South 12U FastpitchSoftball team, which includes three girls from Rockcastle County, in winning the"4th annual Estill County Classic Fall Classic" Fastpitch Tournament. The teamwent 4-0 and we are very proud of them. Pictured are, front from left: CoachTodd Avery, Breonya Napier, Shelby Ham, Jordan Smith, Kassi Eye, Kelly Lay,Channing Whitehouse and Coach Brian Napier. Back row from left: Head CoachJon Parks, Bailey Chasteen, Kennedy Parks, Chyna Rayne Dyehouse, MadisenHinkle, McKinley Rush, Blake Fields and Coach Mike Lay.

The crisp early morningand earlier nightfall remindKentuckians that fall isn’tfar away. The smell of gun-powder, the clunking ofspent shotshells in a vest anddove breasts wrapped in ba-con and grilled aren’t faraway either. It is a hunter’sfavorite time of year.

Dove season openedstatewide Sat., Sept. 1. Al-though brown, crunchymoisture-free grass andcracked brick ground coverlarge swaths of Kentucky,the drought won’t ruin thedove opener.

“There are plenty ofdoves around Kentucky,”said Rocky Pritchert, migra-tory bird coordinator for theKentucky Department ofFish and Wildlife Re-sources. “It’s a mixed bag.Some dove fields are look-ing good while some wereaffected by the drought.”

The Purchase Region isthe area of Kentucky hard-est hit by drought, but dovefield conditions, contrary towhat common sense dic-tates, are in huntable shape.

“As far as the dove fieldsin our region, they got off toa slow start and the plantsstunted a little,” said TonyBlack, Purchase Regionwildlife regional coordina-tor for Kentucky Fish and

Wildlife. “The sunflowerand millet still headed outwith pretty decent seed con-tent in them. It is not too badconsidering how dry we’vebeen. On average, the coun-ties in our region are 12 to13 inches below normalrainfall for the year.”

Hunters who put in alittle time scouting beforehunting a particular fieldplace themselves at an ad-vantage. “Pull out the dovehunting guide and go andlook at the public fields be-fore you hunt them,”Pritchert said. “If you planto hunt a private field oryour traditional dove spot,you still must scout this year.You still need to see if anarea holds any birds.”

The field you plan hunt-ing could be laden withdoves on opening day. If youdon’t pick a good spot in thatfield, however, your huntingvest may weigh less at theend of the day than at the be-ginning because you’vespent your shotshells andhave few doves.

“The first thing I look forwhen setting up in a dovefield is a dead tree or snag,”Pritchert said. “Then, I lookfor the flight patterns of thedoves. Survey where theyenter the field and wherethey exit. Find the entry spot

and set up near there. It isbetter to find a place wherethey enter the field thanwhere they exit.”

Doves often fly into afield through gaps in treesor a swale in the ground.

“A dead tree that is inone of these flight patternsis a great spot,” Pritchertsaid. “They often land indead trees before enteringthe field to feed.”

Doves also use powerlines for the same purpose.Studying these features andsetting up near them makesfor a much more eventfulday. A poorly chosen spot ina good field leads to frus-tration when others down allof the doves. It is likewatching someone from theopposite end of the boatcatch all of the fish. Studyand choose wisely.

The first segment of thedove season closes Oct. 24.The second segment runsfrom Nov. 22 through Nov.30, while the third segmentof the season opens Dec. 29,2012 and closes Jan. 4,2013.

The daily limit is 15doves.

Kentucky Afield OutdoorsCautiously optimistic about dove season,despite brown grass and hard ground