‘Hallow’ feeling: Eastbrook pulls away in 2nd half, eliminates Rochester

Val T.
3 days ago
7 min read

Beck runs for 133 yards, 2 TDs in sectional semifinal loss

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Brant Beck Jabez Yarber Carson Paulik

A smashed pumpkin that lay in the end zone at Barnhart Field Friday at the end of the game was clearly a metaphor for what had happened over the previous 48 minutes.

The Eastbrook football team had come into Rochester’s home and spoiled a potential Halloween party with a wire-to-wire 42-14 win in a Class 2A, Sectional 36 semifinal.

Ryder Gipson ran for four touchdowns, and Bodie Howell threw for a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a touchdown for No. 5 Eastbrook.

The Panthers improved to 11-0 and will host Eastern (Greentown) in the final next week. Eastern edged Tipton 41-40 in the other semifinal.

Brant Beck ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns for Rochester, who finished 9-2.

Beck is one of 13 seniors who graduate.

“I think just having these guys for four years,” Rochester fifth-year coach Ron Shaffer said when asked what made this team special. “I got to see them play in middle school, so I kind of had them in a five-year deal. It’s tough to keep kids around, and to finish with 12 or 13 guys as seniors is tough sometimes. You’ve seen our conference – the numbers where they struggle. To get kids to stick with this kind of a game for four years and to stick with you and to go through the good times and the bad and stay together, it just brings you together as a family.”

Rochester allowed more points in this game than they had in their previous 10 games this season combined (41). Rochester had allowed only two rushing touchdowns all season prior to Friday. Eastbrook had five rushing touchdowns in this game.

Eastbrook converted 8 of 13 third downs. On two of the times they did not convert, they wound up converting anyway on fourth down. And one of the times they did not convert was on a kneel-down play in the final minute when Eastbrook was just running out the clock.

“Some inopportune plays,” Shaffer said. “They converted some nice third downs, I thought. That made it tough for us.”

No. 10 Rochester committed four turnovers, and Eastbrook converted the first two of them into touchdowns in building a 14-0 lead.

In the second half, Eastbrook’s ball-control offense scored on three consecutive possessions. The drives went nine, 12 and 12 plays, respectively. Eastbrook had 37 offensive snaps in the second half as compared to Rochester’s 20.

Howell, a senior who has started every game for three years at quarterback, had thrown for over 100 yards only twice before in Eastbrook’s run-heavy option offense.

But with Eastbrook leading 21-14, Howell found Matthew Slater for 16 yards on third-and-6 and later hit McDermit for 38 yards on third-and-3 on the first drive of the second half. Two plays later, Gipson squeezed in from the 2-yard line to make it 28-14.

Rochester attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-9 from their own 46 on their first drive of the second half, but Trenton Meadows could not haul in Carson’s Paulik’s pass attempt on a fake punt.

And the Panthers responded with a 12-play touchdown drive. Howell went 3 for 3 passing on the drive, including a 19-yard pass to Slater on third down and a 10-yard toss to McDermit on fourth-and-5 from the Rochester 17.

Gipson would eventually cap the drive with another 2-yard touchdown run.

Rochester’s next drive went eight plays, but McDermit deflected Paulik’s pass intended for Meadows running a wheel route on fourth down.

Eastbrook continued to milk the clock, going 3 for 3 on third down conversions on its next drive. They also took advantage of back-to-back personal foul penalties on the Zebras – one for a late hit after the whistle and another for unsportsmanlike conduct. Howell scored on a sneak from the 2 to complete the scoring.

“We just didn’t tackle people very well defensively,” Shaffer said. “Then some big plays in the passing game.”

Rochester also lost sophomore safety Alex Chapman for the game due to an undisclosed injury in the first half, and senior two-way lineman Mason Hisey was limited due to what Shaffer described as an ankle “tweak.”

Rochester’s first drive consisted of nine plays but ended on a turnover on downs when Howell, who also plays safety, stopped Jabez Yarber a half-yard short on fourth-and-5 from the Eastbrook 30.

But Rochester forced a Panther punt.

With Rochester facing second-and-12 from their 13, Shaffer called for a hook-and-ladder: Paulik was to pass in the right flat to Zakk Parks, who was to lateral to Beck cutting around the perimeter.

Paulik’s pass found Parks, but Eastbrook’s Gary Cook delivered a jarring hit to Parks as he tried to lateral, and the ball was on the ground. Slater recovered at the Rochester 17 and returned it 14 yards before Callen Ferverda tackled him at the 3.

Gipson scored off right guard on the next play.

“It looked like it was going to be real big for us,” Shaffer said. “Just timing-wise, the hit… I’m not sure he really caught the ball, but they called in a fumble. It’s one of those pivotal plays, just something that happened. We thought we were going to have a really nice play, and it was a good design. Just fumbled and a big turnover at a bad time.”

Eastbrook coach Jeff Adamson said the hook-and-ladder takeaway was “huge.”

“Not just us getting possession, but so close to the goal line, it allowed us to get a quick score and gave us a lot of momentum,” Adamson said. “And you could see how well they moved the ball through the rest of the first half. I mean, they’re just so good at running the ball that getting a turnover was a huge deal.”

On third-and-13 from their 35 on the next drive, Mason Shell sacked Paulik as he scanned the field for an open receiver. As Paulik was going down, the ball slipped out of his hands, and Tate Arivett jumped on it at the Rochester 33.

Three plays later, Howell lofted a 32-yard touchdown pass on third-and-9 to McDermit behind the Zebra defense to make it 14-0.

Rochester then utilized their powerful wing-T ground attack to put together a 12-play, 71-yard touchdown drive. Beck had a 13-yard run on the last play of the first quarter, and Meadows and Beck had back-to-back 16-yard runs in the second quarter.

Beck gained six yards on third-and-goal from the 7 and then scored on the next play. The PAT snap was errant, and Paulik, the holder, raced back and was tackled for a loss.

Eastbrook’s Cook faked a reverse handoff and returned the ensuing kickoff to the Eastbrook 44. Adamson later said that it was to honor former Rochester coach Mark Miller, who ran a similar fake reverse on a kickoff in 1988. Adamson said he learned that play from Miller at a coaching clinic.

Eastbrook kept the ball on the ground for the entirety of a seven-play, 56-yard touchdown drive. Gipson had a 34-yard carry on third-and-4 from midfield and later scored from the 3 to make it 21-6.

Yarber followed blocks from Gavin Pinder and Parks on the ensuing kickoff for a 34-yard return to the Eastbrook 45.

A 15-yard Beck run up the middle on third-and-10 garnered one first down, and a 19-yard Yarber run on the next play got the ball to the Eastbrook 11.

Two plays later, Beck scored from the Eastbrook 6, and Spencer Backus added the extra point.

The lead was down to seven.

“Their line play is superb and just makes it tough on you,” Adamson said of Rochester’s offense. “As soon as you try to move somebody inside to help take care of the trap, they’re hurting you off-tackle. So many ways they could hurt you with the run.”

Zebra notes

Lewis Cass is the only Three Rivers Conference team still playing after a 55-14 win over Seeger in a Class 2A, Sectional 34 semifinal. Manchester, Peru and Southwood were also eliminated Friday. Southwood (2020) and Maconaquah (2024) are the only TRC teams to win sectional titles in the 2020s.
Rochester has lost in the sectional semifinals three years in a row. They are 1-14 in 15 sectional semifinal games since winning their last sectional title in 2000.

“You’ve got to keep people healthy for three weeks,” Shaffer said when asked how tough it is to win a sectional. “Plus, this sectional is a tough sectional. It’s just really tough. I thought we had the combination that could do it. And I still think we have a team that’s capable of winning this sectional. Tonight was Eastbrook’s night.”

Rochester has won 15 TRC championships since joining the TRC in 1987. Only twice have they gone on to win the sectional as well.
The 28-point margin of defeat was Rochester’s largest since a 39-8 loss to Tippecanoe Valley in 2023. It is also the second largest in the Shaffer era.
Rochester is 20-6 at home during the Shaffer era – 19-3 during the regular season and 1-3 in the postseason.
Eastbrook assistant coach Doug Martz is the brother of Rochester assistant athletic director Greg Martz. David Martz, Doug and Greg’s father, was the athletic director at Eastbrook for 26 years before retiring in 2011.

Eastbrook 42, Rochester 14

Eastbrook 14 7 14 7 – 42

Rochester 0 14 0 0 – 14

First quarter

EB – Ryder Gipson 3 run (Keagan Hallis kick)

EB – Jacob McDermit 32 pass from Bodie Howell (Hallis kick)

Second quarter

RHS – Brant Beck 1 run (run failed)

EB – Gipson 3 run (Hallis kick)

RHS – Beck 6 run (Beck run)

Third quarter

EB – Gipson 2 run (Hallis kick)