Tuscarawas County Rockets find success
The Rockets prepare for the second half of one of their games.
The Tuscarawas County Rockets experienced success over the 2019 fall sports season.
The flag football team travelled to St. Clairsville High School on Oct. 19 to face the Belmont County Eagles. With their starting quarterback and key defensive player, Deric Johnson, sidelined with an injury, the Rockets knew they would have to restructure their offense and rework their defense.
Through a team effort, Steve Hazelip and Matthew Medley were able to take turns quarterbacking and making connections with Logan Wise, Rachel Russell, Jason Fickes, Easton Dillon, Conner DiGenova, Chris Daniska, Jehred Bennett and one another on the field. The end result was a 28-6 victory.
When asked what he thought about the game, Hazelip said, “Matthew and I knew we needed to step up with Deric out. I tried to be the leader I needed to be for my Rockets family.”
The Rockets improved to 5-0 on the season. Their next stop will be the Special Olympics Ohio State Flag Football Championships in Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium (preliminaries and semi-finals) and Paul Brown Stadium (championships and consolation rounds) on Nov. 3.
Twenty-eight athletes travelled to Sawmill Lanes to represent the Rockets bowling team on Oct. 20 at the Special Olympics Ohio State Bowling Tournament. With between 400-500 bowlers from across the state converging for the tournament and being placed in packed divisions, the Rockets came away with some hardware.
Two teams were able to secure gold for the Rockets. The team of Christy Bennett, Jehred Bennett, Allison Halsey and Sarah McVery were awarded gold in Div. 1. The team of Steve Hazelip, Chris Miller, Kershel Zehnder and Kory Zehnder won gold in Div. 7.
Four Rockets teams won silver for their efforts: the traditional (all Special Olympic athletes) team of Mike Alsept, Seth Oberholzer, Lonnie Thornton and Sammy Thornton won in Div. 20; the team of Miranda Milburn, Russ Shiar, Kelly Wells and Nathanial Wells of Div. 3; the team of April Gump, DJ Flaherty, Ashley Metzcar and Rachel Russell of Div. 4; and the team of Coney DiGenova, Conner DiGenova, Erickson Farnsworth and Mark Farnsworth.
The team of Jesse Krebs, Matthew Medley, Keilan Patterson and Logan Wise secured a fifth-place finish for the Rockets.
The Rockets Aquatics team also started practicing at the end of September. They are under the direction of Stacy Harlan and Sharlyn Miller. Their meets will start in November and December. With several returning swimmers and some new faces, the team looks to be strong in their respective events and relays. The Rockets also have unified partners as some of the relays will pair two Special Olympic athletes with two non-Special Olympics partners.
Local coordinator Richelle Lefler said, “These Rockets continue to impress me both during competition and out. The leadership that I’ve seen displayed this fall season is very impressive. Of course we are very appreciative of our community partners: Strasburg-Franklin Schools, the YMCA and Wabash Lanes.”
Athlete-Leadership Council Co-President Jehred Bennett said, “The Rockets are awesome. I am so proud to be a Rocket. We got heart. We got fight.”