Robinson throws 5 TD passes in win over Rochester
Shotts runs for 95 yards, but Wortley, Lett leave with injuries
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
BUNKER HILL — Aiden Robinson threw five touchdown passes to five different receivers, and Marcell Sims ran for two touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass as the Maconaquah football team rolled to a 49-6 win over visiting Rochester to complete an undefeated regular season Friday.
Kale Shotts led Rochester with 19 carries for 95 yards. Mitchell Clark scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak for the second straight week.
But left guard Derek Wortley hobbled off after reinjuring his ankle, and left tackle-defensive end Owen Lett needed to be helped off the field with what coach Isaac Shaffer called an ankle injury.
Maconaquah leading receiver-safety-kicker Nolan Tarrh left with a lower body injury in the first half and did not return. Tarrh, who came in with 73 receptions on the season, did not catch a pass and was spotted in street clothes on the sidelines in the second half.
Maconaquah finished the regular season 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. Rochester dropped to 4-5, 3-4 TRC going into next Friday’s sectional quarterfinal at home against Lakeland. The Zebras finished in a tie for fifth out of nine teams in the TRC.
“So Wortley, his is what it’s been this whole time with his ankle,” Shaffer said. “Kinda got it just a little messed up there towards the end of the half. We just felt like we were better off trying to rest him. Hopefully, we can get him more healthy for this next Friday. Owen, same thing, kind of an ankle, we think. We’ll evaluate that when we get back.”
Robinson came in leading the state with 2,766 passing yards, an average of 346 per game. He threw for a season-high 492 yards in a 55-14 win over Manchester last week.
The Zebras held him to 227 yards this time, but he also had a 14-0 lead before he ever threw a pass thanks to two touchdown runs from Sims. The first was a 4-yarder and came one play after a 54-yard Sims run off right tackle on the Braves’ first drive.
The second was a 41-yarder up the middle and came after a 23-yard Alex Chapman punt into the wind after a three-and-out.
“I’ll have to go back and watch the film,” Shaffer said. “Just not real sure if we’re not getting linebackers going fast enough. And he’s a really special player. We talked about all week we’ve got to wrap up his legs and get him on the ground. Our guys hit him high, and he’s just going to bounce off those tackles.”
Robinson threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter. The first came on fourth-and-5 from the Rochester 26 and came one play after Rochester was called for an incidental face mask on Sims after it had appeared that Maconaquah had turned it over on downs.
Instead, Robinson hit Treson Ambrose for a touchdown on the right sideline, and Sims added a two-point conversion run to make it 22-0.
Rochester responded with an 11-play, 70-yard drive for a touchdown. All 11 plays were runs, including a 13-yard run from Trenton Meadows, a 10-yard run from Meadows on third-and-5, a 14-yard run from Shotts and a 7-yard pile mover of a run from Grant Holloway that gave the Zebras first-and-goal from the 1.
Left: Trenton Meadows looks for some running room.
Middle: Trenton Meadows finds a seam and breaks out for some good yards.
Right: Rochester players celebrate after a sucessfull drive at Maconaquah Friday night.
Photos Courtesy of Jabez Yarber
Clark sneaked it in off left guard from the 1 on the next play.
“We found something in the second quarter,” Shaffer said. “And you know, finally punched one in.”
Rochester attempted an onside kick, but they were flagged for touching the kick before it went 10 yards. On the first play of the next drive, Robinson found Treshawn Rader for a 47-yard touchdown on a go route to the left, and Sims added a two-point conversion run to make it 30-6.
After a Rochester punt, Robinson surgically attacked again. He completed a 7-yard pass to Jorden VanNess, a 13-yard pass to Treson Ambrose, a 5-yard pass to VanNess, a 10-yard pass to Rader and a 10-yard pass for a touchdown to Alexzander Martin in the right flat.
That made it 36-6 at halftime.
On the first drive of the second half, Sims ran for 21 yards on third-and-20 to extend a drive, and on the next play, Robinson found Sims on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 45-yard touchdown and a 42-6 lead with 10:23 left in the third quarter.
The rest of the game was played with a running clock, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.
Shaffer noted Robinson’s quick release. Because of it, it was hard to make him uncomfortable from the pocket, and Shaffer added that it was not worth blitzing him.
“He was really doing a good job of finding the matchups he liked and attacking that,” Shaffer said of Robinson. “And like I said earlier in the week, he’s just a really high IQ guy, and he’s going to find the matchup he likes, and he exposed us there.”
An 8-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to VanNess on the next Maconaquah drive made it 49-6 and ended Robinson’s night. Backup Leevi Jackson quarterbacked the team in the fourth quarter.
Zebra notes
Meadows finished with nine carries for 43 yards.
Auggie Wells had a 13-yard run, and Grayson Miller had a 10-yard run during the running clock portion of the game.
Lakeland, Rochester’s sectional quarterfinal opponent, lost 21-20 at home to Churubusco Friday.
The Whitko-Wabash game scheduled for Friday was canceled on Thursday. Wabash coach Ryan Carmichael resigned on Friday after five years as head coach and 20 years on the football coaching staff there. It is unclear if the cancellation of the game, Wabash’s football future and Carmichael’s resignation were tied together. Wabash announced in August that it would play a mixed schedule consisting of eight-man games, JV games and varsity games with a roster short on numbers. Wabash wound up playing one varsity game, a 33-12 loss to Southwood Sept. 18. They are also a Sectional 34 rival of Rochester.
Maconaquah 49, Rochester 6
Rochester 0 6 0 0 – 6
Maconaquah 14 22 13 0 – 49
First quarter
MAC – Marcell Sims 4 run (Sims run)
MAC – Sims 41 run (run failed)
Second quarter
MAC – Treason Ambrose 26 pass from Aiden Robinson (Sims run)
RHS – Mitchell Clark 1 run (run failed)
MAC – Treshawn Rader 47 pass from Robinson (Sims run)
MAC – Alexzander Martin 10 pass from Robinson (run failed)
Third quarter
MAC – Sims 45 pass from Robinson (kick failed)
MAC – Jordan VanNess 8 pass from Robinson (Tru Brown kick)
Fourth quarter
(no scoring)
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