Maconaquah Schools

The Maconaquah Braves dominated every facet of the game Friday night and remained unbeaten by shutting out the Peru Tigers, 42-0, in a heated Three Rivers Conference showdown at Peru before a standing-room-only crowd. Maconaquah, ranked 15th in the latest USA Today Class 3A media poll, exploded for 21 points in the second quarter and never looked back in posting their second consecutive shutout. It was Mac's fifth shutout vs a Peru team since the series began in 1963 and first back-to-back shutouts in a season since 1992. Then new mythical Miami County Champions are off to their best start since 1996. The Braves are now 4-0 on the year and are tied atop the TRC standings with Rochester and Northwestern. All three teams sport perfect 4-0 conference slates. Maconaquah will host unbeaten Northwestern Friday evening. This game had just about everything.... overflow crowd, tempers flaring and sophomore Nolan Tarrh filling in for Aiden Robinson at quarterback. He directed Mac's offense with the poise of a polished veteran and Peru had no answer. Tarrh ran for two touchdowns, passed for a pair of TD's and was perfect on all 10 of his pass attempts for 113 yards. If that wasn't enough, he set up Maconaquah second score with a fumble recovery, had four tackles and had an interception on defense called back on a penalty. Fellow soph Marcell Sims added to the Braves aerial attack by tossing a 70-yard TD strike to speed-demon AJ Kelly in the third quarter to shove the lead to 35-0 and send shocked Peru fans heading to the exits. The final 16 minutes of the game was played with a running clock with the IHSAA "Mercy Rule" in effect. On the night, the Braves were 11-11 passing for 183 yards and three touchdowns. They added 167 yards on the ground with Tarrh and Sims rushing for 69 and 63 yards respectively. Slippery Conner Eldridge added 37 on four carries in the final stanza. Maconaquah's defense entered the game with the fourth-best defensive average in the state and after its first four games is now limiting its foes to a mere 3.3 points per game. With leading tackler Brady Dausch sidelined for most of the game, the Braves rose to the occasion in posting the whitewash. They limited Peru to 143 yards rushing and held Tiger Isaiah Korba to a season-low 44 yards. Korba entered the game as the TRC's leading rusher and was averaging 172 yards per game, eighth-best in the state. Peru was averaging over 335 yards rushing entering the game. After the Braves stopped Peru on its second possession of the game, Mac took over at its own 22 and Tarrh began working his magic. Sharing the pigskin on the ground with Sims, he added four passes to Kelly and Fuddy Kile along the way before tacking on the first score with a QB keeper from four yards out with a minute gone in the second period. Max Sachse added the first of his six perfect PAT kicks and the Braves were off and running with a 7-0 lead. The time-consuming (5:31) 13-play drive covered 78 yards. It only took 26 seconds for the Braves to score their second TD after Tarrh recovered a Tiger fumble at the Peru 17. After a penalty moved Mac back five yards, Tarrh hit a wide-open Kile and the rout was on, 14-0. With Maconaquah's offensive line opening huge holes all night long the lead ballooned to 21-0 at intermission when Tarrh called his own number from two yards out with 25 ticks left in the half. The drive covered 75 yards in eight plays. A pair of Peru major penalties aided the Braves in the drive. On the night Peru racked up 120 yards in penalties. The Braves were whistled nine times for 75 yards in the spirited contest. After Peru was forced to punt to open the second half, the Braves took over at the Tiger 40 and scored four plays later when Sims hit paydirt from six yards out, 28-0. Another Peru punt on its next drive pinned the Braves back at their own 30 with 4:29 on the clock. Ten seconds later the running clock was triggered when Sims displayed his passing skills with a beautiful 70-yard pitch-and-catch scoring strike to Kelly, 35-0. Tarrh and Kile teamed up with a 27-yard TD pass early in the final stanza to provide the final count, 42-0 when Sachse split the uprights. Kile finished the game with 57 yards and two TD's and moved into 10th place on the state's latest career receiving list with 3,307 yards in his stellar career. The sure-handed senior now has caught 43 touchdowns in his career and has caught TD passes in 23 of his last 25 games. He is the third-leading scorer (260 points) in Maconaquah history. Kelly, the fifth-leading scorer (196) in Mac history, led the Braves with a game-high 126 yards on eight catches. Unofficially, Kelly topped the ball-hawking Brave defense with nine tackles. Others in on the fun were: Carsten Hollars (8), Sims (8) and Kile with seven. Getting six each were: Austin Ringeisen, Dakoda Dauenhauer and Ryley Rodkey. Spearheaded by Kile and Kelly, first-year coach Michael Fenters got his first-ever "victory bath soaking" in front of the large Brave gathering as the final seconds ticked away. It was a "GREAT NIGHT TO BE A BRAVE"