Football Preview: Maconaquah Braves vs. Rochester Zebras
Maconaquah has won three straight games at home, while Rochester has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Maconaquah Braves will face off against the Rochester Zebras at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Maconaquah is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Wabash at home to the tune of 77-0 on Friday. Given the Braves' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked 118th, while the Apaches are ranked 281st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Maconaquah's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Aiden Robinson, who threw for 376 yards and seven touchdowns while completing 78.3% of his passes, and Marcell Sims, who gained 242 total yards and three touchdowns. Sims torched the secondary when he pulled down a catch that went for 71 yards. Another player making a difference was Aj Kelly, who picked up 74 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Maconaquah wouldn't let Wabash keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Auggie Higgins, Carsten Hollars, and Austin Ringeisen picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, Rochester got themselves on the board against Southwood on Friday, but Southwood never followed suit. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 29-0 win over the Knights.
Rochester found their leader in underclassman Kale Shotts, who rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns on only 11 carries. The dominant performance gave Shotts a new career-high in rushing yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Brant Beck, who rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Rochester was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 352 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 295 rushing yards in six consecutive contests.
Rochester's defense made their presence known, laying out Griffin Chambers. nine times. Leading the way was Grant Clark with four sacks.
Maconaquah's victory bumped their record up to 7-0-1. As for Rochester, their win bumped their record up to 7-1.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Maconaquah has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 272.4 passing yards per game. Rochester, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 302.9 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Maconaquah suffered a grim 36-14 defeat to Rochester in their previous meeting back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Maconaquah, Alex Deming (who rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 9.0 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
