Things calmed down----for a few minutes somewhat----but in the final period the Vikings, looking to re-create the success experienced in their previous visit to Converse in 2001, once more brought the count to within seven (7) points when Joseph once more hooked up with Carter, this time on a 20-yard pass play with 8:11 to go. Undeterred, the Rockets weathered the Vikings’ Max Q storm, passing through the outer fringes of the atmosphere and reaching orbit. This process featured the following:

• Earl Brown on a 35-yard run for paydirt and Elbel PAT with 5:21 remaining
• Brandon Williams with a 12-yard run with 210 seconds to go to finish the scoring for the day following a failed PAT.

The final period also saw pivotal INT’s by the following Flight Crew members:

• Craig Rodarte at the Judson 1-yard line
• Reggie Ward at the Viking 12-yard line
• Marcus Venson at midfield

In addition to the three (3) INT’s and the Dubose fumble recovery, the Vikings lost one (1) additional fumble. The Rockets lost one (1) fumble, and Waldon was intercepted once as part of a 3-of-8 performance for 88 yards. The Vikings, in spite of the three (3) INT’s, picked up 186 yards through the air on an 11-of-23 passing effort by Joseph, although they netted only 90 yards on the ground. The Rockets, however, did much better on the ground, picking up 280 yards, with Campbell and The Fox both getting 101 yards---Campbell on seventeen (17) carries and The Fox on twelve (12). The rushing total was stunted, however, by four (4) sacks on Waldon, three (3) of them turned in by Lucas Ybarra. A 5-punt, 30.4-yard average for Judson also helped keep the Vikings in the game, whereas the 5-punt, 40.4-yard Viking average made the Rockets work a little harder to reach paydirt.

It is worth noting, unfortunately, that the 63-point defensive yield exceeded the 62-point defensive debacle experienced by the Rockets against San Marcos in 1975.

The second period saw the Rockets increase the advantage with a 29-yard Fox run and Elbel kick at the 7:07 mark of the 2nd Quarter, as well as a 43-yard Elbel FG with 67 seconds remaining in the Half. Meanwhile, a Drew Rogers 2-yard run and Peral PAT for the Brahmas with 4:12 to caused the score at the break to be 30-10 in the Rockets’ favor. The Rockets increased the advantage after the intermission with the following:

• Chancy Campbell’s 1-yard run with 3:38 left in the 3rd period
• Fox’s 19-yard sprint with seven (7) gone in the final period
• Two (2) PAT’s---one (1) by Elbel and one (1) by Bryan Courtney

The Rockets lost one (1) fumble, as did the Brahmas, although neither team experienced an INT. While the Brahmas punted five (5) times for a 33.6-yard average, the Rockets didn’t punt at all. The Brahmas picked up ten (10) First Downs and netted 217 yards that were distributed almost evenly between air and ground. The Rockets had 23 chain-movers, most of which resulted from the 61 yards that Waldon provided through the air as part of a 3-of-9 passing effort, and especially the 454 yards picked up on the ground. Campbell contributed 184 of those on 25 totes, followed by 113 turned in by Earl Brown on eight (8) carries, and the balance provided by six (6) other ball carriers.

• Chancy Campbell zipping 67 yards for paydirt at the 10:25 mark
• Brian Robinson snaring a 48-yard pass from Waldon for another TD with 5:23 to go
• Shawn Small taking a 17-yard pass from Waldon with 27 seconds left for still one (1) more score
• Elbel connecting on all three (3) PAT’s

Considering the Buffs’ propensity for leaving the ball on the ground so that the Rockets could then launch it for their own purposes, it appeared at this point that the Rockets had control of this one. On the other hand, the Rockets had a similar advantage in 2001, and the Buffs would prove to all on hand that they would go down neither willingly nor easily. This, it would turn out, would be no different.

The Buffs emerged from the break, held the Rockets scoreless in the penultimate period, and in same said period held onto the ball to bleed the clock and wear the increasingly suspect Rocket Defense down. Finally, with 120 seconds gone in the final period Brad Olivarri took Damien Richard’s pass in from four (4) yards out, and Litt’s PAT brought the Buffs to within 21-14. After still more unproductive Rocket thruster activity, the Buffs went back to work, and Sophomore Back James Henry carried the ball in from three (3) yards out to narrow the Rocket advantage to only 21-20 with 6:22 left. The snap was bad on the PAT, so hope that the Rockets could hang on was still alive. This kind of hope, however, was soon declared dead at the scene as a result of what came next. The Buffs were soon back at it again, and on the Buffs’ third play of their next drive the Flight Crew, already beset with their liberal share of technical and mechanical glitches on this 2003 Rocket mission, was electrocuted with a 34-yard run by Henry that put the Buffs in the lead with 215 seconds remaining. The PAT pass for two (2) failed. The Rockets’ electrical problems continued, unfortunately, as their final possession was short-circuited by an INT, and the Buffs emerged with a shocking, well-deserved and long-in-coming win over their Metrocom nemesis.

For the game, the Rockets had a 6-punt, 44.9-yard average which helped keep them in the game, but one (1) lost fumble and the two (2) INT’s as part of a 98-yard, 3-of-8 passing effort probably didn’t help much. On the ground the Rockets picked up 137 yards, 120 of which were contributed by Campbell. Significantly, however, the Rockets netted only one (1) yard of offense in the 2nd Half, and no First Downs [they picked up six (6) in the 1st Half]. Meanwhile, the Buffs moved the chains eighteen (18) times and, once they were able to put the three (3) lost fumbles of the 1st Half behind them, they went on to collect 356 yards on the ground. Henry contributed 133 of those on only ten (10) carries, Tedtaotao picked up 113 on eighteen (18) carries, and the balance was provided by four (4) other ball carriers. A 5-of-11 passing effort for 32 yards and zero (0) INT’s also helped, as did somewhat the 4-punt, 38.7-yard average.

Churchill (4-6, 2-5)
October 10, 2003: Converse
In spite of the continued offensive and defensive glitches, the mission was still on and it was time to re-focus. The Rockets did this after first yielding to a 9-yard TD pass from Blair Peterson to Michael Hill and a Michael Collins PAT that put the Chargers up 7-0 with 5:53 left in the opening period. Chancy Campbell’s 1-yard run and Elbel’s 1-point kick knotted things up with 2:47 remaining in the 1st. The Rockets finally grabbed their first lead of the day off a 36-yard pass from Waldon to Errol Harris with 34 seconds left in the Half, and Elbel’s kick gave the Rockets a 14-7 lead at the intermission.

The Rockets then came out and had their most productive 2nd-Half/3rd-Quarter surge of the mission thus far, with Waldon hooking up with Brian Robinson for a 65-yard scoring play with 86 seconds gone in the 3rd Quarter. The Elbel PAT was good and the Rockets were up 21-7. Nick Fanuzzi’s 7-yard run and Collins’ PAT narrowed the gap to 21-14 at the 7:13 mark of the 3rd period, but the Rockets took over from there. Kyle Fox and Elbel answered with a 61-yard run and a PAT, respectively, with 5:20 remaining in the 3rd. The Rockets snared an INT on the Chargers’ next possession, and Fox quickly provided a 33-yard dash with 4:11 remaining. With eight (8) seconds remaining in the 3rd Quarter, Brandon Williams took a 27-yard pass from Waldon and cashed in for still one (1) more payoff for the Rockets and, aided by two (2) additional PAT kicks from Elbel, the Rockets carried a 42-14 advantage into the final period. The Rockets hauled in still one (1) more INT, Fox maximized the opportunity on the ensuing possession by zipping 47 yards for paydirt with 9:02 remaining in the game to provide the final TD of the day, and Bryan Courtney provided the final PAT of the day.

The Chargers netted 169 yards on the ground and picked up 156 yards through the air as part of a 13-of-29 effort that also experienced two (2) INT’s that the Rockets were able to use quite nicely to their own advantage. The Chargers lost no fumbles whatever, while turning in a 4-punt, 43-yard average. The Rockets, meanwhile, lost no fumbles while turning in a 3-punt, 41.6-yard average. Waldon, meanwhile, experienced no INT’s as part of an 8-of-9 effort for 221 air yards for the Rockets. The Rockets’ ground crew picked up 264 yards, with Fox getting 148 of that on only six (6) carries, and the balance turned in by five (5) other ball carriers.

Reagan (3-7, 3-4)
October 17, 2003: Blossom
This particular ‘snakes in space" DTO started off "innocently" enough for the Rockets, as the following scoring profile for the 1st Half suggests:

• Chancy Campbell's 2-yard run into the endzone with 175 seconds gone in the opening stanza, although the PAT was blocked
• Campbell's 1-yard punch-in for the score with 136 seconds remaining in the 1st period supplemented by Kyle Fox's pass reception from Joel Waldon for two (2) points
• Michael Wright's 7-yard run for a TD and Jordan Nelson's PAT to put the Rattlers on the board at the 8:59 mark of the 2nd Quarter
• Fox's 14-yard dash for paydirt, supplemented by a 1-point PAT by Thomas Elbel with 5:28 left in the Half

All told, it translated into a 21-7 advantage for the Rockets at the Half, and all indications suggested that the Rockets would continue to stretch the advantage in the 2nd Half. The Rattlers, however, had other ideas.

The Rattlers took the 2nd-Half kickoff, and thereafter methodically drove to mid-field. From there, QB Thomas Specia zipped in from 53 yards out, Nelson was good on the PAT, and the Rocket lead was cut to 21-14 with 117 seconds gone in the 3rd period. The Rattlers immediately followed this up with an onside kickoff, recovered by Josh Bookbinder that put the Rattlers back in business at the Rocket 42-yard line. On the 2nd play from scrimmage Conrad Harkrider took the handoff from Specia and tossed it downfield to Marcus Chester for the score. Nelson nailed the PAT, and the score was knotted at 21 with 176 seconds gone in the 3rd. The Rockets thereafter initiated an 80-yard drive that Campbell capped off with a 1-yard run. Elbel was good on the PAT, and the Rockets were back on top at 28-21 with 220 seconds to go in the 3rd. The lead, however, didn't last very long. Following the kickoff, Michael Wright won a 74-yard dash to the Rocket 4-yard line, and on the next play he zipped into the endzone. Nelson toed the PAT, and the score was knotted once more, this time with 186 seconds left in the penultimate period. The Rockets, nevertheless, would get the final score-related words in the 3rd Quarter when, with 72 seconds remaining, Kyle Fox zipped in from 20 yards out, Elbel nailed the PAT, and the Rockets would carry a 35-28 advantage into the final period.

The verdict remained in doubt for a larger part of the 4th Quarter, but finally, with 206 seconds remaining, The Fox took off on a 50-yard run for paydirt, Elbel's PAT was good, and the Rockets now led 42-28. Undeterred, the Rattlers went right back to work, but Ray Reed decided he'd seen enough, so he picked off the Rattler pass and returned it 27 yards for the score, and Elbel nailed the PAT to close out the scoring for the day. The Rocket Defense then went back to work and bottled up the snakes for good so that the Rockets got out alive from this rather venomous DTO.

Lee (2-8, 0-7)
October 24, 2003: Converse
This meeting was essentially a systematic annihilation in favor of the Rockets. It began when the Rockets recovered a Volunteer fumble a few seconds after the kickoff. On the Rockets’ first offensive play, Fox took the handoff in from six (6) yards out, after the Elbel kick the Rockets led 7-0 at the 10:58 mark of the opening stanza, and the rest of the scoring is literally history, as tabulated below:

• Another Fox run for six (6) yards at the 7:04 mark of the 1st
• Earl Brown’s 5-yard run with 3:54 remaining in the 1st Quarter
• The Fox scampering 15 yards at the 8:02 mark of the 2nd Quarter
• Brown on a 5-yard run with 5:55 left in the Half
• Brandon Williams zipping 58 yards 69 seconds into the 2nd Half
• Fox on a 37-yard dash at the 9:24 mark of the penultimate period

Thomas Elbel was good on all of the first five (5) Rocket PAT’s of the day, and Bryan Courtney nailed the final two (2) Rocket PAT’s of the day. The final overall TD of the day was turned in by the Volunteers’ Joseph Gonzales on a 7-yard run with 185 seconds left in the 3rd Quarter, and a successful PAT for the Vols closed out the scoring.

Madison (8-2, 5-2)
November 1, 2003: Blossom
A supremely unsuccessful Saturday evening DTO with the Mavericks once more uncovered some serious flaws in the Rockets' cooling and guidance, navigation and control systems---aka Defense---and Gary Green was more than happy to underscore this fact in making history. The turning point---if there was one (1), came when, with the Rockets up 7-0 and threatening inside the Mavs’ red zone to up the count to 14-0, the Mavs snatched a turnover and thereafter moved downfield to knot the score. The statistics pretty much speak for themselves, and they pretty much suggest why the 2003 Rocket mission would most likely soon be history.

Following the debacle the previous Saturday, the Flight Crew, their FOD and their Support Teams had two (2) options in responding to the situation

1. ‘Act a fool’ in any number of ways and prematurely pull the abort handle on the 2003 Rocket mission; or
2. Serve notice that Rocket Pride was still in effect

TR and his undefeated Riders, on the other hand had long since finished their charge to the top of the 26-5A Crown Hill. The insurgent Rockets, reduced at this point to providing RPG (Rocket-propelled guerilla) fire, chose Option 2 in salvaging the 2003 mission and getting the best deal obtainable---however that could be defined at that point. Rocket Pride was still in effect, in other words. The Rockets and the Riders played to a deadlock in the 1st Half, but the Riders once more got in front of the Rockets to start the 3rd Quarter. Then, the first time the Rockets went on offense in the 2nd Half, TR recovered a Rocket fumble at the Rocket 30-yard line, and they appeared poised to deliver a potential knock-out blow. At that point, Rocket Band Drum Major Linda Santiago, deciding she and her fellow Band members had seen enough, took matters into her own hands by launching the Band into the millennial version of "Rocky." What followed was a true Old Skool sequence of events similar to the way the Rocket Band would help get the Flight Crew out of serious jams in the 1980's and 1990’s: The Rockets recovered a TR fumble, Chancy Campbell ripped off a 37-yard run up the middle, and shortly thereafter Joel Waldon hooked up with Erroll Harris, who sprinted down the sideline and into the end-zone to complete the 32-yard scoring play and cap a 4-play drive that radically transformed the game.

The Riders attempted once more to regain the advantage, but after a creditable effort they had to surrender the ball once more to the Rockets. The Rockets drove 40 yards to the TR 9-yard line, where Thomas Elbel stepped in and nailed a not-so-pretty but nevertheless good FG into the strong, cold wind with 4:43 left to play. TR made a frenzied effort on the ensuing series, reaching the Rockets' 27-yard line. On second down, however, O'Marley Martin crashed through to sack Carlos McFall back to the 35-yard line. Matt Tanguma was then tasked with knotting the score with a 52-yard FG attempt with 95 seconds remaining, but the kick was short and the Rockets took over. With 74 seconds to go, Chancy Campbell got a critical 3rd-and-5 conversion for a First Down, getting it on a 10-yard run that saw him drag three (3) TR defenders the final six (6) yards in a fashion not at all unlike what Chris Pryor did with a Churchill defender in the landmark 1983 showdown in Converse. From there, the Rockets killed the clock and then waited to see if they could continue their mission.

The Madison Mavericks, however, made sure that the Rockets would be flying an "alternate mission" when they got past Mac the following afternoon. Sadly, what would follow next for the Mavericks would remind everyone how football---just like real rocket flight----can at times be dangerous and supremely unforgiving. It would impact anyone with a heart and soul and show the world once more how the Power of Love is the greatest Gift we can have whether it be playing the game of football, or in playing and winning the Game of Life: A Game that David Edwards---a true warrior in the Game of football and more importantly Life---was destined to win and in so doing light the world with Faith, Hope and Love.

Final
North Shore 23 The Woodlands 7

Semifinals
Southlake Carroll 37 Allen 21
Katy 36 Clemens 15

Final
Katy 16 Southlake Carroll 15