Zebras score on first 2 drives, but Mac foils TRC title hopes

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

BUNKER HILL — The Rochester football team scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, but it was host Maconaquah who finished fast to claim the Three Rivers Conference title and an undefeated regular season Friday.

Aiden Robinson threw three touchdowns – two to Fuddy Kile and one to A.J. Kelly – and Marcell Sims returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown as the Braves pulled away to win 30-14.

Max Sasche added the go-ahead 29-yard field goal with 1:08 left in the half.

Rochester led 14-7 with 4:13 to go in the first quarter before Maconaquah finished with 23 unanswered points.

Maconaquah improved to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in the TRC. Rochester fell to 7-2, 7-1.

Brant Beck had 80 yards rushing, including a 13-yard touchdown run on the fifth offensive snap, to lead Rochester. Trenton Meadows had 70 yards, including a 52-yard run on the second play from scrimmage that set up Beck’s score.

Drew Bowers had a juggling, highlight-film worthy 72-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter and finished with two receptions for 92 yards.

But Rochester had a 12-play drive in the second quarter in which they did not score, an eight-play drive in the third quarter that preceded Sims’ punt return and an 18-play drive covering the third and fourth quarters that ended with Beck being stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Maconaquah 4.

“Just at the point of attack, we were getting beat quite a bit,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said. “They were more physical than us in certain spots. It makes it hard to do what we’re trying to do offensively if we can’t be better at the point of attack. I don’t know if we’re not seeing it right, but we’re just not hitting seams as well as I thought we should. That goes back to coaching. We’ll get better this week.”

After Beck got stopped, Maconaquah drove 96 yards in three plays. Robinson faked a swing pass to draw the Rochester defenders up and then threw over the top of the defense to Kelly for a 74-yard touchdown. Zakk Parks blocked the extra-point try, but Maconaquah led 30-14.

Kelly intercepted Carson Paulik on Rochester’s first snap on the next possession, and Maconaquah burned off the final 7:28 off the clock to complete its first undefeated regular season in school history.

Maconaquah had lost the previous three seasons to Rochester by an average margin of 26 points per game.

Trailing 6-0, the Braves answered Beck’s opening-drive score with one of their own. Robinson threw incomplete on third-and-7 from the Rochester 23, but the Zebras were called for pass interference, and that gave Maconaquah a first down.

Robinson threw a screen to Kile on the next play, and he turned the corner along the right sideline for an 11-yard touchdown catch. Max Sasche added the extra point to give Maconaquah a 7-6 lead.

“I don’t understand that play,” Shaffer said. “He’s there at the time the ball flies over his head at 10 yards, and they call pass interference. They told me it would have either been pass interference or it would have been hitting a defenseless receiver. I guess you have to stand back and let them catch it.”

Bowers’ touchdown catch came on third-and-13. Kelly was covering Bowers down the right sideline as Paulik threw deep. Kelly appeared to touch the ball first, but Bowers tipped it out of his hands and juggled it along the sidelines at the 30 before winning a foot race to the end zone. Beck added a two-point conversion run to make it 14-7.

Robinson’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Kile on a deep post down the middle of the field tied the game at 14 with 10:27 left in the half.

After Maconaquah stopped Meadows for 2 yards on fourth-and-5 from the Maconaquah 44, Robinson floated a deep pass over the middle to Nolan Tarrh for a gain of 31.

Maconaquah would drive as far as the Zebra 7 before a false start penalty moved it back to the 12. Sasche then converted his field goal to put Maconaquah up 17-14.

Rochester forced a three-and-out on Maconaquah’s first drive of the second half but had to punt themselves from the Maconaquah 48 on their first possession of the half.

Paulik had a 47-yard punt that Bowers downed on the 1, but a holding penalty forced Paulik to punt again, and this time, Sims chased the punt back to the 8 and split three potential tacklers and sped down the left sideline and ran past Paulik for a touchdown.

“Coverage breakdown,” Shaffer said. “Basically, we had too many guys in one area, and it stacked it up, and once he broke through that, and it stacked it up, and once he broke through that, it was pretty much over.”

Rochester’s next drive included a 20-yard pass from Paulik to Bowers and a 2-yard run from Beck on fourth-and-1 at the Maconaquah 25 on the last play of the third quarter.

Rochester advanced the ball incrementally with runs of 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, and 3 yards on the first six plays of the fourth quarter, leaving Rochester with a fourth-and-1 from the 4.

Beck took the handoff, but Maconaquah linebacker Carsten Hollars filled the hole and stopped Beck for no gain.

“Nobody’s going to give us a trophy for holding them to 30,” Shaffer said. “But I think the biggest thing is that our kids never stopped battling, they played hard until the end, and that’s what you’ve got to be proud of most.”

Maconaquah’s Gibson Daily was ejected for punching Rochester center James Gardner while Gardner was on the ground with 12 seconds left in the half. Per IHSAA rules, Daily will be suspended for Maconaquah’s next game against Peru in the sectional next week.

Maconaquah 30, Rochester 14

Rochester 14 0 0 0 – 14

Maconaquah 7 10 7 6 – 30

First quarter

RHS – Brant Beck 13 run (run failed)

MAC – Fuddy Kile 11 pass from Aiden Robinson (Max Sasche kick)

RHS – Drew Bowers 72 pass from Carson Paulik (Brant Beck run)

Second quarter

MAC – Kile 65 pass from Robinson (Sasche kick)

MAC – Sasche 29 FG

Third quarter

MAC – Marcell Sims 92 punt return (Sasche kick)