For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
For Roncalli, it was a complete collapse in all three facets in the first half as Brebeuf Jesuit led 31-0 at halftime. And Rebels coach Scott Marsh knew who to blame.
“When you have total breakdowns in all three phases, (I’m) the only person that needs to have a finger pointed at them,” Marsh said. “That’s obviously not how we thought things would go tonight, but we have to regroup and try to get things back on track next week.”
Host Brebeuf went on to blow by Roncalli 44-12 in Circle City Conference action. It was worst Roncalli’s first loss since a 35-3 setback to Bishop Chatard in 2011.
The Rebels had won 10 of previous 11 games against Brebeuf.
Braves receiver Adam VanderKooy took the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, which set the tone for a dominating first half showing by the Braves (4-2).
“It was an awesome job by them; those kids were ready to play and we weren’t,” Marsh said. “That’s on me. I obviously didn’t do a good enough job last week.”
Braves quarterback Caleb Ellison connected with Gabe Wright for a 52-yard touchdown to boost the lead to 14-0 with 8:41 left in the first quarter, and Isiah Martin scored from 4 yards out to increase the lead to 21-0 with 4:23 to go in the half.
The Braves boosted the lead to 28-0 on Ellison’s 17-yard touchdown run with 10:53 remaining. Brebeuf added a 21-yard field goal by Alex Potts with 12 seconds left in the first half.
Roncalli had just two first downs in the first half and finished with seven.
“We didn’t block them very well in the first half, and it’s hard to get anything done when you don’t block well,” Marsh said. “Everything got away from us so fast. In the second half, we got a little continuity. But it was just too little, too late.”
Roncalli running back Elijah Mahan, who had just 21 yards on nine carries, scored from 1 yard out to make it 31-6 in the third quarter. The two-point conversion failed.
Rebels defensive back Gavin Snyder took a blocked punt and ran it in from 13 yards to slice Brebeuf Jesuit’s lead to 31-12 with 1:50 left in the third quarter.
The Braves scored the final 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Freshman quarterback Aidan Leffler was 9 of 20 passing for 79 yards in his second start for the Rebels.
The Rebels will play host to Bloomington North next Friday.
