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Bowers catches 35-yard TD, Murphy, Jewell run for TDs
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Kye Murphy Grant Clark
Brant Beck ran for two touchdowns, and Zakk Parks set up one touchdown with a 25-yard reception and scored another on a 46-yard interception return as the Rochester football team maintained superiority in their rivalry with Wabash with a 42-0 win at Barnhart Field Friday.
Carson Paulik threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Drew Bowers, and Kye Murphy and Maddox Jewell also had touchdown runs for the Zebras, who improved to 17-0 against Wabash since the schools became Three Rivers Conference rivals in 2006. Six of the 17 wins have been by shutout.
Rochester also has five shutouts in their last nine games dating back to last year.
Clarence Garrett’s contributions included a 48-yard run in the first quarter that set up a touchdown on offense and an interception on defense in the second quarter that set up another score.
Davis Renie kicked four extra points in six attempts.
Rochester recorded a safety 14 seconds into the game. Caden Carmichael’s shotgun snap from the 13-yard-line seemed to elude an unaware quarterback Haiden McWhirt. Baldwin, a running back standing behind McWhirt in the pistol formation, recovered it, but Ethan Bailey and Parks ran Baldwin down before he could get out of the end zone to give Rochester a 2-0 lead.
Parks returned the ensuing free kick 30 yards to the Wabash 25. He later had a 25-yard reception in the left flat where he broke a tackle and converted a first down.
Parks missed baseball season last spring as he recovered from surgery for a torn elbow ligament.
“That was a rush,” Parks said of his catch and run. “I did not expect to get that far of a run out of it, but it was nice. A good throw from Carson. … I think we have really good chemistry this year, me and him.”
Beck scored from the 5 off right guard on the next play to give the Zebras an 8-0 lead.
Wabash converted two first downs on their next possession but turned the ball over on downs when Jarrett McWhirt dropped a pass from Haiden McWhirt on fourth-and-2 from the Rochester 40.
Two plays later, Beck, who played fullback Friday after playing halfback his first two varsity seasons, took a trap 58 yards for a touchdown. Renie added the extra point to make it 15-0.
McWhirt’s 67-yard touchdown pass to DaVon Osborn was negated on a holding penalty – Bowers was in position to make a tackle before he was hauled down – on the ensuing possession, and Jarrett McWhirt punted 22 yards to the Rochester 47.
Garrett ran 48 yards through a hole between left guard and left tackle on a counter to give Rochester first-and-goal on the 5. Murphy scored on an end-around to the right on the next play, and Renie added the extra point.
Rochester had already accumulated a 22-0 lead despite making just six offensive snaps.
On the third play of Wabash’s next possession, Haiden McWhirt dropped back and threw to the right. Gage Schiebel-Simon was his intended receiver, but Grant Clark hit McWhirt’s arm and the ball fluttered slightly, and Parks adjusted to the ball and made a house call untouched to make it 29-0.
“His first job is control the tight end and get into his pass rush,” Rochester coach Ron Shaffer said of Clark. “So he had different responsibilities depending on what formation they were in, and he did a really good job either engaging the tight end and getting into his pass rush or being able to get into his pass rush on the weak side. So we saw that all summer, and we thought we’d be able to get a good pass rush on them tonight.”
Parks thanked weights class teacher Clint Gard and assistant coach Bryce Roberts for helping him get bigger and stronger as he rehabilitated from his surgery.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Parks said when asked if the team has developed a bond in the weight room. “It definitely gives you that stronger brother bond.”
Rochester fumbled on their next possession but would eventually take over on downs at the Wabash 43, and Jewell would eventually make it 35-0 with a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:09 left in the half. He had three carries for 25 yards on the drive, and Paulik had a 15-yard run.
After a Garrett interception with 35 seconds left in the half, Paulik found Bowers on the next play on a deep route along the right side after a fake toss to the left. The reception was the first of the varsity career for Bowers, a senior.
Renie’s extra point made it 42-0.
Neither team scored in the second half, which was played with a running clock per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.
Young Zebras like Alejandro Chapman, Grayson Miller, Aiden Wilson, Cailab Tyler and Kale Shotts took handoffs from freshman backup quarterback Mitchell Clark in the second half. Young linemen getting playing time included Teagan Moyer, Trevor Coplen, Grant McGlothin, Derek Wortley and Jaser Garrett.
Twelve different Rochester players had at least one carry.
“We wanted that,” Shaffer said. “Maybe some kids didn’t get as many touches as they wanted. You get in a game where you’re up 29-0 in one quarter, and sometimes it gets a little difficult, and you get a running clock, but we got to see a lot of guys perform tonight and carry the ball, and I think we put it on the ground one time, which is too many.”
Rochester 42, Wabash 0
Wabash 0 0 0 0 – 0
Rochester 29 13 0 0 – 42
First quarter
RHS – Safety, Baldwin tackled in end zone
RHS – Brant Beck 5 run (kick failed)
RHS – Beck 58 run (Davis Renie kick)
RHS – Kye Murphy 5 run (Renie kick)
RHS – Zakk Parks 46 interception return (Renie kick)
Second quarter
RHS – Maddox Jewell 2 run (kick failed)
RHS – Drew Bowers 35 pass from Carson Paulik (Renie kick)
Third quarter
(no scoring)
Fourth quarter
(no scoring)
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