Despite the cold, the Grey Ghosts heated up Rock Falls with an electrifying win.

On Friday night, the Illinois Valley Central varsity football team made the two-hour trip to play conference rival Rock Falls.

The Ghosts looked more like the Chicago Bears, scoring two touchdowns off defensive turnovers, one off special teams and only two of their five off offense.

The game started out with the Rock Falls Rockets receiving the opening kickoff.

Despite a first down off a long quarterback run, the Rockets were forced to punt.

The Ghosts’ offense took the field after the punt, with running backs Dan Semtner and Cody Kentzel filling in for the injured James Lauber and Jake Elias.

Led by the strong running of Kentzel and Semtner and a catch by wide receiver Terell Williams, in which he spun and fought for every yard, the Ghosts marched the ball down the field and powered it in on a Semtner run to put the Ghosts up, 7-0.

Quarterback Chris Razo’s point after touchdown was blocked.

The Rockets then took the field, but they were not expecting Semtner to score again.

Semtner, who plays linebacker as well as halfback, made an interception and a 37-yard return for his second touchdown within a minute.

The two-point conversion pass from Razo to Kentzel was good and the Ghosts were up, 14-0.

The Rockets then led a drive in which they made big third- and fourth-down conversions and chewed up plenty of clock.

Despite their drive nearly stalling with a fourth and one, the Rockets managed to complete a 38-yard pass and drove the ball to the IVC goal line to be set up with first and goal from the six.

The Rockets then powered the ball into the endzone with a six-yard run.

The two point conversion pass was no good, and the IVC lead was cut to 14-6.

Two plays into the next IVC drive, the Rocket defense took charge and ran back an interception 38 yards for a touchdown.

The two-point conversion pass was good and the game was tied at 14 headed to the half.

Starting out the second half with the ball, the Ghosts’ running game took over the field and the game.

Semtner, whose strong running and defensive play made him the game’s MVP, racked up a large portion of his 111 yards rushing for the night on this drive.

Despite strong running by Semtner and Razo, the Ghost offense turned the ball over when they failed to convert a fourth and 13 on the Rock Falls 31 yard line.

The Rockets took the field and began to attack the IVC secondary, which worked at first.

After they drove into IVC territory, the Rockets were plagued with a tackle for a loss by IVC defensive end Jake Switzer.

A Derek Sprout sack stalled the Rockets’ drive and they attempted a field goal, which was no good.

After a 19 yard run and a four-yard run by Semtner, the Ghosts’ offense took a strike down the field with a 60 yard pass to Williams that went for a touchdown.

Razo’s PAT was good and the Ghosts took the lead, 21-14.

The Rockets’ offense was then forced to a three and out, capped off with a sack by linebackers Kolbe Weller and Allen Simmerman.

The Rockets’ special teams then came in to punt the ball away, not expecting that they would become the next victim of IVC’s scoring onslaught.

Defensive back/wide receiver Luke Hall took the punt for the Ghosts and, led by the strong blocking of the rest of the special teamers, returned the kick 55 yards for a touchdown.

Razo’s PAT was good and the Ghosts extended their lead to 28-14.

The IVC defense, which was plagued with missed tackles at the end of last week’s loss to Mendota, was relentless the entire night, as proven when the Rockets took the field again.

The Ghosts’ defense forced the Rockets to punt again and send the ball back to IVC.

The Ghosts, despite more strong running by Semtner, were forced to punt the ball away.

The Rockets then began another drive that would end with a touchdown, just not for Rock Falls.

IVC defensive back Shannon Zwicky made a leaping interception off the Rockets and ran the ball back a long 50 yards for the touchdown.

Razo’s PAT was good and the score was now 35-14. The Rockets then moved the ball down the field with quick, West Coast offense-type passing but could not score, as they were stopped on fourth and goal from the 10 yard line.

The Ghosts then sent out the second team offense to run out the clock and send IVC home with a 35-14 victory over conference rival Rock Falls.

“We had some guys that were missed but their backups really stepped up,” head coach Tim Heinz said after the game. “It was a tough one.”

The Ghosts are now 2-1 in conference play and 5-1 overall.

The Ghosts will take on Kewanee at Kewanee in another conference matchup at 7:30 p.m. Friday.