The Rebels taketh away … Roncalli secondary has knack for picking off passes

Each of the defensive backs on Roncalli’s football team knows exactly how many interceptions their teammates have.

They’d probably know even if they didn’t want to.

“We might be keeping a running total and whispering it in each other’s ears,” cornerback Gabe Otley said. “Just for that extra motivation.”

Whatever has motivated the Rebels on defense this season, it’s working. Roncalli gives up only about 13.5 points per game, and its ability to generate turnovers — especially via the interception — has helped the team win its first 14 games and earn a spot in this afternoon’s Class 4A state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Rebels have forced 17 turnovers while giving the ball away only six times, a plus-11 turnover margin. A dozen of those takeaways have come via pickoffs.

Otley leads all area players with five interceptions. Free safety Alex Kuntz has gobbled up three passes from opposing quarterbacks, and Josh Swan and Dylan Williams have each snared a pair.

Roncalli head coach Bruce Scifres says that taking the ball away from the other team is a major point of emphasis at his practices. Defensive coordinator Scott Marsh puts his charges through takeaway drills daily — and that focus has clearly paid dividends.

“The amount of times we do it in practice,” Otley said, “it becomes second nature — so in the game, you don’t even have to think about it. It just comes out and you just do it.”

Which, as Scifres noted, is kind of the point.

“When we’re on offense, we want to maintain possession of the ball, and defense, take it away from them,” he explained. “That’s really the premise of the game. When the game was created — that’s what you’re trying to do.”

Those takeaways have helped the Rebels’ defense to set the tone early in games during this unbeaten campaign. Roncalli is outscoring its opponents 403-197 overall, with a massive 230-100 edge over the first and second quarters.

The Rebels held three opponents to season-low scoring totals, including a shutout of Plainfield. Most other opponents were held well below their averages, and even the highest point total Roncalli allowed — 33 points in a sectional win over Lebanon — looks a lot better when one considers that the Tigers came in averaging 45.7 points and were fresh off a 62-point outburst.

“Our defense runs on being a lockdown D,” Kuntz said, “and we’ve been that for the last couple of years. This year, we’ve really taken pride in it, shutting a couple of teams out and keeping high-scoring teams to a few points.”

Today, Roncalli will try to do the same against a NorthWood team that had scored at least 43 points in seven straight games prior to its semistate win over Lowell. In order to shut that high-powered offense down, the Rebels will need some big plays defensively.

Fortunately, they’ve got several players capable of making them.

“Gabe and Alex are both very athletic, tough competitors, and they both have a knack for getting to the ball,” Scifres said.

Test them at your own peril.

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Tonight’s football state championship games:

Class 2A

Eastbrook (13-1) vs. Indianapolis Ritter (10-4), noon

Class 4A

Roncalli (14-0) vs. NorthWood (14-0), 3:30 p.m.

Class 6A

Center Grove (12-1) vs. Carmel (9-4), 7 p.m.

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