Maconaquah Schools

Maconaquah's relentless defense set the tone early Friday night and sparked the Braves to an impressive 26-7 win over the Class 1A No. 8-ranked Carroll Cougars. The Braves (ranked No. 10 in the latest IFCA Class 3A poll) improved to 2-0 on the year, while Carroll evened its record at 1-1. Mac will open Three Rivers Conference play Friday night, hosting the 1-1 Northfield Norse. "I was impressed how well our guys played tonite. Everyone stepped up," said first-year Brave boss Ethan Robbins following the game. "The defense played well and the guys up front (linemen) were phenomenal. That was a good football team that we just beat," he added. Robbins saw his defense turn three Cougar turnovers into 19 points enroute to the victory. The Braves forced five Carroll punts and held the hosts to 69 yards of total offense until the reserves took over in the final five minutes of the game. After the Braves coughed up the ball on the games opening possession, Carroll took over at the Mac 29 and drove to the seven before Tre Rader intercepted a Cougar pass at the 7:02 mark . . . ending Carroll's only serious scoring threat until late in the game. Taking over at their own 10 yard line, the Braves put together a precision-like 15-play, 90-yard scoring drive that consumed nearly seven minutes of clock. Known for its patented quick-scoring drives and high-powered passing attack, Maconaquah was forced to change its strategy at Carroll. The Cougars decided to take MHS quarterback Aiden Robinson and receiver Nolan Tarrh out of the picture after the dynamic duo entered the contest as the state's leading pass-catch combo. With top running back Marcell Sims sidelined with an injury, the Braves used a balanced attack in racing to the victory . . . and it was Robinson who did most of the damage. . .this time with his feet . . . not his arm. The senior signal-caller capped Mac's first scoring drive with a three-yard TD keeper with :08 left in the opening quarter. The Braves' vocal leader would score Mac's second touchdown early in the second stanza and finished the game with 113 yards on 25 carries, both career-highs. "Aiden is our leader and was asked to do a lot," stated Robbins after the game. The Braves second TD was set up by the defense when Tarrh and Aiden Ousley forced a fumble that Alexzander Martin scooped up and returned it to the Carroll 33 with 10:55 left in the first half. From there, it would take the Braves only eight plays to cover the distance and bolt to a 13-0 lead on Robinson's one-yard plunge and Tarrh's PAT kick. The "big play" during the drive was a pretty Robinson-to-Rader strike that covered 25 yards on a fourth-and-nine situation at the Cougar 31. Maconaquah took a 20-0 lead at intermission when Tarrh nabbed a Robinson 14-yard TD pass with 16 seconds remaining. Treson Ambrose's 12-yard catch in traffic and a 25-yard catch by Tarrh over the middle on fourth-and seven highlighted the scoring drive. Robinson's four carries aided the cause with 32 yards on the ground during the 11-play, 78-yard drive. Defense was the name of the game in the scoreless third quarter. Carroll was forced to punt three times, while the Braves punted twice and lost a fumble on their opening drive at the Cougar 28. After Tru Brown's third punt of the night pinned Carroll at its own 17 midway through the final period, MHS senior Chase Washburn's crunching QB sack and fumble recovery had the Braves knocking at the Cougar seven. Martin scooted in from there one play later and it was 26-0 with 7:10 to go. Carroll would end the scoring at the 1:56 mark after covering 39 yards on four plays. Robinson finished the game (16 of 29) with 133 yards passing to go along with his 113 hard-earned yards on the ground. Tarrh led the receiving corps with 65 yards on 10 catches. After leading MHS in receiving in its first two outings he passed David Stogsdill, John White and Steve Shine and sits in third place in Mac career receiving with 1351 yards. Rader and Ambrose added 35 and 34 yard respectively. Evan Blake, Eli Grzegorski and Tarrh each had four tackles to lead the defensive unit. Credited with three each were: Jayden Fitzpatrick, Ousley, Washburn, DaKoda Dauenhauer, Rader and Brayden Tabler. Getting TFL's (tackles for loss) were: Martin, Blake and Rader, while Washburn got the 10-yard QB sack. Pouncing on Cougar fumbles were: Blake, Martin and Washburn. Causing fumbles were: Tarrh, Ousley and Washburn. Tarrh had a pair of pass breakups and Rader had the interception setting up Mac's first score of the night.