Shotts shows off speed, Meadows adds 2 TD runs as Rochester defeats Clinton Prairie

Oliver returns interception 97 yards for TD

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

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Kale Shotts Mason Oliver

FRANKFORT — Rochester senior football player Kale Shotts heard about it for a week.

He heard about it from his football coaches. He even heard about it from his one of his track coaches Dr. John Nile.

Shotts had a 61-yard run against Whitko in which Wildcat defender Mason Hersha caught him from behind and tackled him at the 2-yard line.

The Zebras went on to score on that drive and win 46-6, so they could laugh about it.

Shotts made sure nobody caught him against host Clinton Prairie Friday, running for 197 yards and three touchdowns as Rochester rolled to a 56-26 win that improved their record to 3-1.

Trenton Meadows ran for 69 yards and two touchdowns on five carries and added a 43-yard reception that set up a score. Grant Holloway ran for 15 yards, caught a 42-yard pass and also had an interception on defense.

Alex Chapman caught a touchdown pass, and Gavin Fincher had a touchdown run.

The Rochester ground attack had 329 yards, including 282 in the first half. Clark added a career-high 103 passing.

This came against a Clinton Prairie (3-1) defense that was coming off back-to-back shutouts against Frankfort and Clinton Central and was allowing just 4.3 points per game. Clinton Prairie was ranked No. 7 in this week’s USA Today Class 1A media poll.

“It took us a few series to figure out what their alignment up front was and what we needed to get done,” Rochester coach Isaac Shaffer said. “Once we did, the offensive line executed really well, and Kale decided not to look back this week, and he didn’t get caught. So no, it was great, and I think he had a pretty big night. I think the entire offense had a really good night tonight.”

The defense forced four turnovers, highlighted by Mason Oliver’s first career interception, which he returned 97 yards for a touchdown, foiling what had been a 11-play Clinton Prairie drive that got them down to the 5-yard line.

But Oliver stepped into the left flat along the sideline and picked off Clinton Prairie quarterback Gaige Kuzmicz and was off to the races. Kuzmicz chased him, but Shotts ran more than 50 yards and helped with enough of a block as Oliver loped untouched into the end zone.

“It was amazing,” Oliver said. “I was waiting for them to run that all night. I was getting ready. I was waiting. I was going to sit right on that.”

Oliver was asked to describe the feeling of running down the field headed for the end zone.

“It’s so awesome,” Oliver said. “So exciting hearing everybody yelling behind you. It’s awesome.”

The touchdown made it 48-13 and triggered a running clock, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.

In addition to the interceptions from Oliver and Holloway, Shotts and Aiden Wilson both had fumble recoveries.

Rochester converted the four takeaways into 26 points.

Wilson also blocked a punt in the second quarter, which led to a bizarre play. The blocked punt went right back into the arms of the punter Kuzmicz, who then threw a pass out of bounds.

After officials conferred, they called Clinton Prairie for an ineligible man downfield penalty, which Rochester then declined to take over on downs.

Freshman Jalen Kirkpatrick returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown and also caught an eight-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the game for Clinton Prairie. The Gophers’ last two touchdown drives came against Rochester backups after the running clock started.

Rochester failed to convert a fourth-and-one on the Clinton Prairie on their first drive, but a botched Gopher quarterback-center exchange led to a fumble that Shotts recovered on the Clinton Prairie 44.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Meadows got behind the defense for a 43-yard reception where he was tackled from behind at the 1. He scored on the next play on a one-yard run on a toss.

Rochester punted on their third drive but took over after a Kuzmicz punt with seven seconds left in the first quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter, Shotts gained five yards. Then came an offsides penalty in which two Gophers jumped on a Clark hard count, giving Rochester a first down at the 33.

Shotts then burst into the secondary on a belly play and raced untouched into the end zone. Fincher’s two-point conversion run made it 14-0.

After a Clinton Prairie three-and-out and a Kuzmicz punt into the end zone for a touchback, Rochester took over on their own 20. Three plays later, they had a third-and-three from their own 27 when Rochester ran a trap for Shotts. Once again, he slipped undisturbed into the Clinton Prairie secondary and ran 73 yards for a touchdown.

The lead was 20-0.

Kirkpatrick’s kickoff return, in which he ran diagonally across the field after breaking multiple tackles, made it 20-6.

Clinton Prairie then attempted an onside kick, but Rochester’s Ethan Bailey fell on it at midfield, and Meadows went off right tackle and jetted 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-6.

Clinton Prairie capitalized on a Meadows fumble and scored on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Kuzmicz to Jackson Price in which Price slipped open behind the defense.

But on the first play of the next drive, Clark found an open Holloway for a 42-yard completion. Two plays later, Shotts again scored untouched from the 9, and when Clark hit Holloway for a two-point conversion pass, the lead was up to 34-13.

Shotts’ stat line in the second quarter: five carries, 161 yards, three touchdowns.

“Man, I just felt like a cross-country runner right there,” Shotts quipped. “I’m not a runner. I never claimed to be a runner, but if I’ve got to do it, I’ll do it.”

Wilson recovered a wild shotgun snap over Kuzmicz’s head on the first play of the next drive at the Clinton Prairie 18.

After a Rochester timeout, Shaffer called for a screen pass and floated a pass over two defenders to Chapman, who sauntered untouched for a touchdown. Meadows’ two-point conversion run made it 42-13.

Oliver’s interception return and Fincher’s 30-yard scoring run which Holloway set up after intercepting a pass that teammate Liam Spence initially deflected off a Clinton Prairie player stretched the lead to 56-13.

“A lot better,” Shaffer said of the defense. “We moved some guys around. We have some guys that are playing defense that weren’t before. We have some guys that are playing different positions than they were before. I felt like we looked a lot faster tonight with that, so that was our number one goal was to do that and get some more one-way guys, and I think it paid off tonight.”

In many ways, this game might be more remembered for what the Zebras did on offense. Tippecanoe Valley shut them out 30-0 in the Bell Game in Week 2, but in their other three games, Rochester is averaging 49.3 points per game.

And while this was not a conference game – Rochester was only playing Clinton Prairie as a substitute opponent because Wabash is not fielding a varsity squad due to a lack of numbers – it was meaningful to beat an undefeated, ranked team.

“It’s going to strike some fear through the conference,” Shotts said. “They’re going to know that Rochester is a real contender.”

A moment of silence was held before the game to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Rochester 56, Clinton Prairie 26

Rochester 6 36 14 0 – 56

Clinton Prairie 0 13 0 13 – 26

First quarter

RHS – Trenton Meadows 1 run (run failed)

Second quarter

RHS – Kale Shotts 67 run (Gavin Fincher run)

RHS – Shotts 73 run (run failed)

CP – Jalen Kirkpatrick 82 kickoff return (kick failed)

RHS – Meadows 50 run (run failed)

CP – Jackson Price 53 pass from Gaige Kuzmicz (Carter Farlow kick)

RHS – Shotts 9 run (Grant Holloway pass from Mitchell Clark)

RHS – Alex Chapman 18 pass from Clark (Meadows run)

Third quarter

RHS – Mason Oliver 97 interception return (kick failed)

RHS – Fincher 30 run (Tanner Horn run)

Fourth quarter

CP – Ryder Mitchell 9 run (Farlow kick)

CP – Kirkpatrick 8 pass from Kuzmicz (no kick; game over)