Rockets' pass attack blasts off vs. T.F. North

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Just in case Rich East's opponents didn't have enough to worry about already, the Rockets showed on Saturday they do more than run the football.

Stephen O'Neal threw a pair of touchdown passes to complement the Rockets' double-barreled running game as Rich East rolled past visiting T.F. North 34-14 in Park Forest.

"We've really got some good passing plays," said Daniel Harris, who ran 18 times for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Harris and teammate Reggie Byrd (18 carries, 148 yards) both had 100 rushing yards by halftime as the Rockets opened a 20-8 lead.

Harris scored on runs of 17 and 22 yards in the first half and sprinted 57 yards down the left sideline to push the Rockets' lead to 27-8 with 9:45 left in the third quarter.

"I thought they did a good job today, not only running, but blocking," Rich East coach Barry Reade said of Harris and Byrd.

Meanwhile, O'Neal was also having a productive afternoon despite throwing just five passes. He had a 31-yard scoring toss to Joshua Dyer in the first half, and the pair teamed up for an 18-yard TD play in the fourth quarter.

"That [part of the] offense is there, it's waiting," Reade said. "We can do that at any time. ... Stephen's a good quarterback. That one long touchdown pass, that's typical of what he can do."

Two-way starting lineman Bruce Collins helped out on both sides of the ball.

"Bruce is like a beast," Harris said, "because he's playing both ways, on defense with big plays and he comes in on the offense with good blocks, opening holes for the running backs."

The win kept the Rockets (6-0, 2-0 SICA South) perfect heading into next week's road showdown with Crete-Monee.

"We're ready," Harris said. "We've been ready since the start of the season for that game. They think they owe us for last season [a 20-15 Rich East win], so we've got to go hard."

T.F. North (1-5, 0-2) had a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Barnes to Katrell Sykes just before halftime and a two-yard scoring run by Calvin Lindsey with 2:55 left in the game.