AUBURN, NE - The Syracuse Rockets retained their unbeaten record with a shootout win at Auburn, 54-27, as heard on Otoe County Country Friday.

The Rockets looked like they would take the lead with about five minutes left in the opening quarter, but Will Janssen lost a fumble at Auburn's 3-yard line to keep it scoreless. Auburn then responded with an impressive 97-yard drive that was capped off by a 23-yard touchdown run from Brenton Wenzl to make it 6-0 in favor of Auburn after the first frame.

Syracuse answered with authority in the second frame. Peyton DeMello ran it in from 35 yards out to tie things at six roughly four minutes into the quarter. The Rockets then successfully executed an on-side kick, and DeMello turned in another 35-yard TD scamper to build a 14-6 lead for Syracuse. Wenzl responded for Auburn with a 56-yard TD toss to Lane Jones, and the game was knotted at 14 with nearly nine minutes to go still in the half! The Rockets weren't done, scoring two more times on Will Janssen runs of 50 and three yards for a 29-14 Syracuse lead at the break.

Kicking off the second half, Auburn went for the on-side kick & did so successfully...however, they fumbled it away on the ensuing drive. Janssen tacked on two more TD runs, while the Syracuse defense held strong, and the Rockets were up 41-14 through three.

Each team scored 13 points in the final frame for the final 54-27 score. 

Syracuse saw Janssen carry the rock 21 times for 239 yards and four touchdowns. DeMello had six totes for 92 yards and a pair of TD's, and Mason Lintz found the end zone once via 13 carries & 152 yards. Brennan Schroeder had a pick six on "D", and was a conservative 2/2 passing for 38 yards.

Auburn is now 3-5 on the season. They'll visit Nebraska City on Friday night at 7pm. You can catch that game on B103. Syracuse sits at 8-0, and they'll wind down the regular season at Wilber-Clatonia Friday night.