Shotts runs for 117 yards, Meadows adds 3 TDs as Zebras rout Whitko again

Val T.
6 minutes ago
6 min read

Rochester holds top Whitko back Hersha to -4 yards rushing

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tanner Horn Liam Spence

Rochester football coach Isaac Shaffer wanted a fast start from his team against visiting Whitko at Barnhart Field Friday.

He appeared to get it as the Zebras scored touchdowns on their first six drives and went on to cruise to a 46-6 win over the Wildcats.

Kale Shotts ran for 117 yards, and Tanner Horn had his first career touchdown run as part of an 83-yard night. Trenton Meadows ran for 78 yards and three touchdowns, and Grant Holloway had a 55-yard touchdown run as part of a 72-yard night.

Aiden Wilson ran for 41 yards on seven carries, and Gavin Fincher also had a touchdown run for Rochester, who improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.

Liam Spence had an interception for the third straight game, and he also forced a fumble that Gavin Pinder recovered. Both takeaways led to touchdowns.

Rochester also held sophomore running back Mason Hersha to -4 yards rushing. Hersha came in averaging 36.5 yards rushing per game.

Rochester has lost the last eight Bell games to Tippecanoe Valley, but the last five times they have lost the Bell, they have come back to win the following week.

Shaffer admitted that it was not difficult to achieve the desired hot start given the scorching temperatures. The game began in a heat advisory.

“I think we were pretty hot before we came out,” Shaffer said. “Thie weather, I mean, its tough on the guys, so I expected some mental mistakes, and we still had those, but I thought for the most part, we came out and did what I asked the kids to do. They fired off the ball hard and just went through their assignments and played hard. And that’s really what I wanted to see.”

Chase Miller threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Crew Ebbinghouse for Whitko, who dropped to 0-3, 0-2 TRC. Whitko is 3-53 in their last 56 games dating back to 2020.

Rochester has beaten Whitko six consecutive years by a combined score of 289-24.

One week after being shut out and mustering just 95 yards of offense at Valley, Rochester drove 75 yards in the first 2:42 on the opening drive. Shotts had runs of six and 16 yards, and Meadows had a 21-yard run on a jet sweep.

Meadows then caught a 25-yard pass from Mitchell Clark before fumbling out of bounds. Wilson ran for eight yards, and Fincher followed with a four-yard scoring run. Wilson added the two-point conversion run.

After forcing a three-and-out, Rochester followed with a six-play, 67-yard touchdown drive. Shotts had a seven-yard run on fourth-and-4. After a Horn nine-yard run was called back on a holding penalty, Horn followed with a 60-yard run where he followed his quarterback Clark through the hole. He went untouched, outracing the Whitko defense for a touchdown. Horn added a two-point conversion run to make it 16-0.

Whitko got their initial first down on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on their second drive, but two plays later, Miller completed a screen pass to tight end Chandler Cox in the slot. Spence reached in and forced a fumble, and Pinder fell on it at the Whitko 33. Shotts ran for 16 yards on first down, and Meadows ran 17 yards on a power toss of right tackle for a touchdown. Shotts made it a 24-point lead with a two-point conversion run.

Whitko’s touchdown came after coach Thomas Tyree called timeout with 1:55 left in the quarter. On third-and-11, Whitko lined three receivers to the right. Two of the receivers ran short patterns while Ebbinghouse slipped free. He caught the pass 10 yards ahead of the defense and reached the end zone despite cramping over the final 10 yards.

But a holding penalty on Whitko overturned a fumble from Holloway, and two plays later, Holloway scored on an inside reverse taking handoff from Meadows after Meadows took a handoff from Clark. Holloway veered to the left sideline and out raced the Whitko defense for a 55-yard touchdown run.

With help from a 28-yard pass from Miller to Cox on the first play of the second quarter, Whitko drove from their 35 to the Rochester 25 on the ensuing drive. But three plays later, Spence stepped in front of a Miller pass on an out route and intercepted it at the Zebra 21.

Rochester was facing a third-and-13 from their 37 on their next drive when Shotts took a handoff on a belly play to the left. Left tackle Barrett Brown sealed the edge, and left guard Derek Wortley kicked out a defender toward the sideline. Safety Zavien Mayes filled the hole, but Shotts put him to the turf with a stiff arm.

Shotts raced to the left pylon, but Hersha ran him down and tackled him at the Whitko 2 for a 61-yard gain. Meadows scored on a rocket sweep to the right on the next play, and Holloway added a two-point conversion run.

After a three-and-out, Rochester took over on the Whitko 44. Holloway ran seven yards on a jet sweep on first down. On second down, Holloway took the handoff and then handed it off to Meadows on an inside reverse. Meadows followed the block from Navan Goodman and went 37 yards for a touchdown to make it 44-6. Wilson tacked on the two-point conversion with a friendly shove from quarterback Clark.

Shaffer said he trimmed the playbook to seven rushing plays and four passing plays but added that he wanted those plays run “to perfection.”

“I think we only ran about four or five plays,” Shaffer said. “So yeah, we definitely simplified it, and I think that that helped. We have to continue to do that. We still aren’t going to add more plays yet because we didn’t do everything perfect. Part of that is again is just it’s hot. They’re 15, 16, 17-year-old kids, so their attention span isn’t what I’d love it to be, but they’re getting better, and they fought through some of that adversity.

“I know we had a touchdown that we gave up. No one pointed fingers. No said anything, and then we had some more adversity and got lucky with them having a penalty when we fumbled and lost the ball.”

Meanwhile, defensive end Owen Lett often penetrated into the backfield to stop Hersha.

Shaffer has often praised the 6-3, 215-pound Lett for his film study in preparing for games.

“You’ve just got to learn down and distance,” Lett said. “What are they going to do on down and distance? If this guy does this thing on this play, what’s he going to do? … It just gives you an advantage over everyone. It’s a really big part of the football game.”

After seeing extensive time at tight end last week, Lett played defense only Friday. He said the team was “a little devastated” with losing the Bell Game for the eighth straight time, adding that it “took us a minute to get on track.”

Eventually, they were able to move on.

“We went through a lot of adversity this week with the heat,” Lett said. “It kept us inside, but all through this week, we kept the grind. We had a great week of practice.”

Rochester was called for three personal foul penalties – one for unsportsmanlike conduct, one for roughing the passer and one for unnecessary roughness on a punt return on a crackback block that essentially was a turnover.

The unnecessary roughness penalty came while the clock was running in the third quarter. Holloway was tackled on his punt return with 7:32 left, and there was not another snap until the 2:40 mark as the officials discussed both the spot of the ball and who had possession.

Rochester never possessed the ball in the third quarter.

Shaffer said he is “absolutely” concerned with the personal fouls.

“Ten years ago, they wouldn’t have thrown a flag on that,” Shaffer said of the crackback block. “It’s just where football is now, and you have to learn from that, and we have to practice it. I don’t do a good job of making the kids practice that, so that’s something I’ll have to do as coach.”

Rochester 46, Whitko 6

Whitko 6 0 0 0 – 6

Rochester 30 16 0 0 – 46

First quarter

RHS – Gavin Fincher 4 run (Aiden Wilson run)

RHS – Tanner Horn 60 run (Horn run)

RHS – Trenton Meadows 17 run (Kale Shotts run)

WHI – Crew Ebbinghouse 68 pass from Chase Miller (run failed)

RHS – Grant Holloway 55 run (run failed)

Second quarter

RHS – Meadows 2 run (Holloway run)

RHS – Meadows 37 run (Wilson run)