Without starting quarterback Chad Leckington, the Shelley Russets were without one of its top offensive weapons for their game with Sequim, Wash., to kick-off the Rocky Mountain Rumble at Holt Arena Saturday.

The Russets are used to not having Leckington in the lineup as he missed of the 2011 season with injuries. They do have a more than capable backup in junior Kaden Schmitt and one of the state’s best players, McKay Cannon.

The Sequim defense did a good job of holding Cannon in check on offense. He only had one catch for 26 yards and a touchdown and 31 yards rushing.

It was on defense where Cannonmade his mark in a 42-0 Shelley victory.

Cannon intercepted three passes in the first half, returning one 28 yards for a touchdown.

The Russets defense recorded five first half turnovers and blocked a punt, to preserve the shutout.

Shelley’s defense recorded two more turnovers in the second half, both fumble recoveries, returning one for an 18-yard touchdown.

“We preached to the team all week that Sequim was big, tall and physical, and we had to play that way or better,” Shelley head coach Travis Hobson said. “We were scared to death of their screen so sitting back and being able to take that away was good for us.”

Shelley, ranked No. 2 in 3A, got a little more help from Sequim when quarterback jack Wiker injured his leg on the game’s very first play.

“We noticed in warm-ups that their snapper was struggling a bit, so we tilted our nose tackle a little bit,” Hobson said. “Tilting our nose caused more problems for them."

The Sequim center sent four snaps over the head of the quarterback.

While Cannon and the defense controlled the Sequim offense, Schmitt and the offense had thing under control.

Schmitt threw a first half touchdown passes Dalton Nelson and Josh Peterson as the Russets raced out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“We kind of felt like we had to prepare ourselves for the unknown opponent by making sure our game plan was down and we executed what we wanted to do,” Hobson said. “We were not too tricky with our formations. We were concerned with playing our game.”

Schmitt finished the game 10-of-19 for 162 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Josh Gutierrez led the Russets rushing attack with 65 yards on eight carries.

With the game firmly in control, the Russets rested all of their starters in the fourth quarter.

Shelley (2-0) plays at Hillcrest Friday at 7 p.m.