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- Val T.
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester (1-0) at Tippecanoe Valley (1-0), 7 p.m.
He ran for a team-high 146 yards last week on just nine carries in a 22-14 win over Plymouth.
He is their leading returning receiver from last year.
He was Junior All-State last year on defense from his safety spot.
And he averaged nearly 43 yards per punt on four punts against Plymouth.
Many might love football because it is an interconnected sport. It is 11 guys working together to achieve a common objective.
But it is hard not to think of what influence Tippecanoe Valley’s Owen Omondi might have on the 50th meeting – it is the 39th meeting with the Bell on the line – between Rochester and the Vikings.
If Omondi flourishes like he did last week, Valley could be in line for their ninth straight Bell win. If a Rochester defense that has posted 16 shutouts since 2021, including a 46-0 win over Southwood last week, can contain Omondi, they might give themselves a chance at their first Bell win since 2017 and their first win at Smith-Bibler Memorial Stadium: Home of Death Valley Football since 2014.
“I think he handles it well,” Valley coach Stephen Moriarty said when asked how Omondi handles being the focal point of the opposing team’s scouting report. “You know, he does a good job. … We try to put him in different spots to get him the ball because he’s an impact player. When he touches it, good things are going to happen. We try to not use him every time but to get him the ball as much as we can. And I think Owen has matured so much from one year to the next. He handles the pressure very well for offense and defense, and he’s taken on that leadership role where he wants the ball every time. I’m very proud of him.”
Rochester coach Isaac Shaffer noted both his ability to run between the tackles and his elite speed to the perimeter. He can play from the wing or in the slot.
“He’s a heck of an athlete, probably one of the best athletes if not the best athlete we will see all season,” Shaffer said. “Just a great, great football player. I can’t say enough about him. We watch film, and I’m like, man, that kid is good. You can tell. He’s tough, just a great athlete. But he’s probably their best offensive and defensive player. They’re going to line him up in different spots to get him the ball.”
Having said that, Omondi did not lead Valley in rushing attempts in their 22-14 win over visiting Plymouth last week. Instead, senior quarterback Hunter Randall did with 17 carries, and he scored a critical fourth quarter touchdown on a 6-yard carry last week; however, Randall completed just two of his seven pass attempts for 27 yards.
“I think that you can’t go by the completion percentage,” Shaffer said. “He throws a really good football. He’s not going to make a mistake. He’s not going to turn the ball over or cause problems for their offense. He just makes everybody right (and) makes sure guys are in the right position. If a play breaks down – I think they had a few high snaps in their game against Plymouth – whatever their play was, it probably wasn’t him to keep the ball, but he just finds a way to get the snap handled and then makes something out of it with a three or four-yard gain that still keeps them on scheduled to get a first down.”
Grant Holloway Owen Lett Hunter Paxton Hunter Randall
While Rochester enjoyed a running clock for the second half against Southwood, Valley was tied with Plymouth 8-8 after three quarters.
Moriarty said his team stayed positive on the sidelines.
“I feel that they did,” Moriarty said. “I think there were a couple different plays that were turnarounds in the game that kind of fired us up on the sidelines. We had done so well moving the ball, and then we would get a penalty and then another penalty. So I feel like we were self-inflicting a lot of those drives that were shut down. But I think overall, we were still moving the game, and we were doing positive things. So I do think overall (with) our attitude plus our confidence that we could stop them and we could move the ball helped to gather a win.”
Valley held Plymouth to 2.4 yards per carry, but now the defense will be tasked to stop a Rochester rushing attack that averaged 7.9 yards per carry against Southwood last week.
Rochester used 12 different ball carriers against Southwood, and Trenton Meadows, Kale Shotts and Grant Holloway all did not play on offense in the second half.
Rochester had this success even though four of the offensive linemen – left tackle Camden Susaraba, center Cailab Tyler, right guard Gavin Pinder and right tackle Ethan Bailey – were new to the offensive line. Derek Wortley is the one returnee, and he switched positions, moving from center to left guard.
Assistant coaches Joe Shaffer and Ken Hughes both work with the offensive linemen.
“I think going into the season, we told some guys we’re going to need guys to step up,” Isaac Shaffer said. “There are going to be guys that haven’t been asked to play on the offensive line before that we’re going to need them to, like Ethan Bailey and Camden Susaraba. We had Derek Wortley that played on the offensive line last year coming back, but we knew that it wasn’t going to be at center. We knew that we were going to need him to fill a bigger role at guard. But I thought things for the most part went really well last Friday.”
But Valley has bent the will of the Rochester wing-T its way during its winning streak.
Rochester averaged 40 points per game last year; against Valley, they scored two. Rochester averaged 35 points per game in 2024; against Valley, they scored 12. Rochester averaged 38 points per game in 2023; against Valley, they scored eight. In 2022, Rochester averaged 40 points per game; against Valley, they scored 17.
“I would call it a 4-3, and I’m sure it’s gap exchange within a 4-3 defense with a four-DB (defensive back) look,” Shaffer said. “Their linebackers, they’re kind of like us. Their d-line is going to play fast and create havoc in the backfield, and then that allows their linebackers to run free. Their linebackers are great at finding open windows and getting to the ball and wrapping up and just hanging on until people get there. The other thing is they have probably the two best safeties that we’re going to see all season in Omondi and Hunter Paxton. Two fantastic safeties. When you can play safety at about seven or eight yards and still be able to defend the pass and help on the run like they do, those guys are elite. So even when the front seven might make a mistake, those two can make everybody else right, and they make them right in a hurry.”
Moriarty said the mobility of Rochester’s offensive linemen has impressed him. He said the best play that Rochester runs is their power play, where even quarterback Mitchell Clark is expected to block.
“It’s a similar offense to what they’ve run in the past,” Moriarty said. “I will say that they’re throwing the ball more, at least what we’ve seen on film so far, and they’ve been successful with it. … They haven’t dropped too many balls this season, whether it be in their scrimmage (against Winamac) or against Southwood.”
Defensively, Rochester has moved Ethan Bailey from linebacker to tackle and brought in two new ends in Aiden Wilson and Owen Lett, both juniors. The linebacker group includes Gavin Pinder, Gavin Fincher and Shotts.
“They do have a very solid front,” Moriarty said. “They do a good job of containing the football and keeping it in the middle. It’s difficult to run against them up the middle, and their linebackers flow well. They are very assignment football, where each position has responsibility. You could tell they filled their role against Southwood. That’s for sure.”
Rochester did not punt against Southwood, but Shaffer said the team is prepared for the possibility, adding that it might come down to a special teams play.
Shaffer also said that he has emphasized pre-hydration, which started Monday. He also has asked players to put “a little more” salt on their food to help avoid cramping as game-time temperatures are expected to be in the upper 70s.
Moriarty said junior Ty Kiser is “questionable” after missing the Plymouth game, and Ian Young is out.
Shaffer said Mason Oliver is preparing to play safety in case Alex Chapman cannot go. Chapman banged knees with a Southwood player last week and needed to be helped off the field, but Shaffer added that there was no swelling. He called it a “deeper bruise” and that he’s going to be OK.
