Rochester rolls over Shenango
Shenango (6) vs. Rochester (42)
Written: Oct 12, 2009
By DAN IRWIN
d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com
It’s a simple equation.
Against Rochester High, a slow start almost always equals a fast finish.
Shenango found that out Saturday night. The Wildcats spotted the Rams a two-touchdown lead before ever touching the ball on offense and wound up dropping a 42-6 Big Seven Conference decision.
The Rams (4-0 conference, 6-0 overall) are ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL in Class A by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and No. 1 in the PIAA as well.
All of the scoring took place in the first two quarters, which made for a quick second half, played entirely under the mercy rule. That particular proviso mandates that whenever a team has a lead of at least 35 points after intermission, the remainder of the game — with few exceptions — is played under a constantly moving clock.
Rochester took the game’s opening kickoff and marched 61 yards in nine plays, capping the drive on Trey Johnson’s 3-yard run. The Rams then kicked off, but Shenango’s Anthony Kosciuszko mishandled the ball and Rochester recovered on the Wildcats’ 26 yard line.
Three plays later, Jasson Adamson passed nine yards to Devon Glass for a 14-0 advantage less than halfway through the first quarter.
For Rochester head coach and Shenango grad Gene Matsook, whose team was coming off its only real test of the season — a 14-7 win over Laurel — the quick break from the gate was a welcome sight.
“It was very important,” he said. “I was a little concerned about a hangover from last week’s game, it was an emotional game. Then you’ve got to come up to Shenango, two good running backs, Ryan’s (Wildcats’ coach Ryan Mayo) doing a great job with them, I didn’t know how we were going to handle it.
“You know what, our kids really jumped on them early. That’s what we wanted to do, especially when you play away, you want to jump on that team early in the game if you can. We wanted to control the tempo, and we controlled the tempo all night.”
Of course, for the Wildcats (2-2, 4-2), the Rams’ two quick scores had the opposite effect.
“You can’t spot a team — the number one team in the state — a two-touchdown lead and expect it to go away,” head coach Mayo said. “That’s the kind of stuff we were hoping to avoid, and it didn’t happen for us.”
The Rams went on to get two more touchdown runs, of 24 and 6 yards, from Johnson, who also returned a punt 61 yards for a score. Rochester’s remaining TD came on a 44-yard pass from Johnson to Terrence Slade.
Kosciuszko ended up being one of the ’Cats’ few bright spots, rushing for 108 yards on 17 carries, including a 51-yard breakaway for a score.
“I thought offensively we moved the ball well when we were on the field, but we didn’t get on the field that much,” Mayo said. “Our line blocked well and our backs ran well. Unfortunately, defensively, we weren’t able to stop them.”
Shenango is now tied with South Side Beaver for the conference’s fourth and final playoff spot. The two teams meet Saturday at Glenn “Pop” Johnston Stadium, with the winner claiming the inside track to a postseason berth.
“We can’t let this loss take up any of next week,” Mayo said. “We’ve got a lot of big football games left to play. You have to do what you do with every game, which is learn from your mistakes and try to correct them in practice the next week.
“We can’t let this feeling linger into next week because we’ve got a big football game with South Side.”
*****
ROCHESTER SHENANGO
14 First downs 8
191 Yards Rushing 182
3 Yards Lost 8
188 Net Rushing 174
11 Passes Attempted 5
5 Passes Completed 2
0Passes Intercepted 0
105 Yards Passing 9
293 Total Yards 183
1-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
2-37 Punts-Average 5-27
2-10 Penalties-Yards 2-15
ROCHESTER 14 28 0 0 — 42
SHENANGO 0 6 0 0 — 6
Scoring plays
ROCHESTER — Trey Johnson 3-yard run (Jonathan Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Devon Glass 9-yard pass from Jasson Adamson (J. Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — Terrence Slade 44-yard pass from Adamson (Run failed).
ROCHESTER — T. Johnson 24-yard run (Terry Gettings pass from Adamson).
SHENANGO — Anthony Kosciuszko 51-yard run (Run failed).
ROCHESTER — T. Johnson 6-yard run (J. Johnson kick).
ROCHESTER — T. Johnson 61-yard punt return (J. Johnson kick).
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