Rochester 14/1441

Shotts, Beck combine for 293 yards, 4 TDs rushing

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester football team’s offense was missing one of its top lineman, but the march down the field of its wing-T offense continued as hoped against Elwood in a Class 2A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal Friday.

Kale Shotts ran for 158 yards and a touchdown, and Brant Beck ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns and also forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble as the Zebras trounced the Panthers 46-0 Friday.

Trevor Walley and Aiden Wilson added touchdown runs in the second half. For Wilson, it was the first touchdown run of his varsity career.

Ethan Bailey had an interception on defense.

Rochester improved to 8-2. The shutout

was their fourth of the season. Elwood finished 1-9.

The game went to a running clock with 4:45 left in the third quarter after Walley’s touchdown, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.

Rochester will travel to Eastern (Greentown) next Friday for the semifinals. Eastern handled Blackford 35-7 in their quarterfinal.

Rochester junior right guard Callen Ferverda missed the game due to a knee injury that coach Ron Shaffer said was “tweaked” in a loss to Maconaquah last week. In his place, Matt Crossland moved from right tackle to right guard, and Liam Pinder played right tackle. Xavier Vance started for the second straight game at left tackle, a position that Pinder manned for six games during the regular season.

Junior Zakk Parks also did not play after the first quarter as he nursed an injury from Maconaquah.

“I would just say a few guys we’ve got to get healthy,” Shaffer said. “Zakk Parks is a little bit dinged up. We’ve got to get him healthy. We’ve got to try and get Callen healthy. Other than that, you’ve got to prepare. You’ve got to stay focused. It’s a long run to win a sectional championship. You’ve got to do it in three weeks. It’s a lot to take in. So just stay focused.”

Trailing 32-0 at halftime, Elwood’s biggest gain was a 33-yard hook-and-ladder play on the first play of the second half. Jayden Mullens threw to Kayden Simpson for 8 yards, who immediately lateraled it to Bracken Jetty for another 25.

But that drive ended with a punt.

Rochester would drive from their own 2 to the 37 before Walley fumbled. Elwood’s Conner Wooten recovered and returned it five yards, but Beck stripped him, and Trenton Meadows would recover on the 31.

Rochester would then embark on a nine-play, 69-yard drive. Meadows had four carries for 37 yards on the drive, and Walley finished with a 7-yard run on a fullback trap to make it 39-0.

After another Elwood punt, backup quarterback Mitchell Clark commandeered a 51-yard scoring drive that included a 22-yard run from Ashton Orem and a 16-yard run from Wilson that preceded his 4-yard scoring run.

“They were overpursuing,” Shaffer said. “Even though it seemed like the jets were working, the rockets were working, they were in heavy pursuit of it. I thought the counters were really good.”

Rochester took the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards in four plays. Shotts’ first three rushing attempts netted 14, 17 and then 15 yards for a touchdown. Shotts tacked on the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

After forcing a punt, Rochester drove from their own 38 to the Elwood 10, but the drive ended when Shotts was stopped for 2 yards on fourth-and-9 from the 12.

On the ensuing drive, Mullins had a 17-yard run. A bootleg to the right and a 13-yard pass to A.J. Flanagan resulted in another first down. Blaise Jones followed with a 19-yard run on a sweep around the right side as Elwood entered Rochester territory.

Mullins then set up a screen to Flanagan. Beck collapsed on Flanagan 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and tore the ball out of his arms and toward the Zebra sideline. Beck then hustled it down and fell on it before it went out of bounds.

“Just I had the right angle at him, and I saw the ball was a little loose,” Beck said. “And honestly, it was just hustle from there. I got the ball out and saw it rolling and just hustled to it. I was inbounds.”

Rochester then drove 58 yards in seven plays. Shotts had a 22-yard run on third-and-1 from the 36, and two plays later, Beck ran left on a misdirection play for a 9-yard touchdown. Beck then ran in the two-point conversion to make it 16-0.

The next Elwood drive ended with turnover on downs at their own 37 as Rochester’s Clarence Garrett deflected a pass on a fake punt intended for Mullins.

The drive would be extended when Elwood was called for an offsides penalty on fourth-and-1 from the 18. Beck scored from the 13 on a Trojan sweep off left tackle on the next play, and Carson Paulik found Meadows for a two-point conversion to make it 24-0.

After another Panther three-and-out, Rochester drove 72 yards in 15 plays. A 3-yard run from Shotts converted a fourth-and-1, and Beck cut inside on a 13-yard run for a touchdown on third-and-8. Shotts’ two-point conversion run made it 32-0.

“He could have had 200 tonight or more,” Shaffer said of Shotts’ rushing yards. “But he did really well. I thought Trevor Walley did really well when he stepped in in his absence. He fumbled the ball one time, came back to him, got him a touchdown. I think the fullback position did really well tonight.”

Even without Ferverda, Rochester moved the ball on the ground.

“I thought Matt Crossland filled in really well, and it was nice to put Pinder in at tackle,” Shaffer said of the reworked offensive line. “Just move Matt down. He’s played guard before. It just worked out really well.”

Rochester was coming off a loss to Maconaquah last week in the game that decided the TRC title.

“We were pretty upset about it,” Beck said. “We took it into practice. We were like, ‘OK, we got second in conference. What’s the next best thing?’ The next best thing is the first win of sectionals.”

Rochester 46, Elwood 0

Elwood 0 0 0 0 – 0

Rochester 16 16 7 7 – 46

First quarter

RHS – Kale Shotts 15 run (Shotts run)

RHS – Brant Beck 9 run (Beck run)

Second quarter

RHS – Beck 13 run (Trenton Meadows pass from Carson Paulik)

RHS – Beck 13 run (Shotts run)

Third quarter

RHS – Trevor Walley 7 run (Davis Renie kick)

Fourth quarter