Maconaquah Schools

The Maconaquah Braves storybook season came to an end at home Friday night as the Fort Wayne Luers Knights held off a furious Brave comeback in the final three minutes to capture the IHSAA Class 3A Regional championship, 31-28. The setback was Maconaquah's only loss in a memorable 12-1 season that saw first-year coach Michael Fenter's gridders claim the Three Rivers Conference championship, their first-ever sectional title and first unbeaten regular season in school history. Luers will now host its third consecutive unbeaten opponent Friday when Garrett visits the Knights in semi-state action. They beat previously-unbeaten Mississinewa last week. The Knights held two touchdown leads in each half only to see the never-say-die Braves respond each time. Luers took advantage of a pair of Mac turnovers and grabbed a 14-0 lead on its first play of the second quarter on a 38-yard TD run. Maconaquah charged back, putting together an 11-play, 79-yard scoring drive on its next possession. Aided by three Knight pass interference calls and a holding penalty, Marcell Sims got Mac on the board with 6:20 left in the half when he muscled his way across the goal line from four yards out. The PAT kick was blocked. Luers moved to midfield on its next possession but was forced to punt after MHS senior Fuddy Kile knocked down a pair of Knight passes. Taking over at its own 18 with 2:55 showing, it took only 13 seconds for the Braves to light up the scoreboard as quarterback Aiden Robinson hit Kile with a short pass that turned into an 82-yard TD romp when Kile bolted down the MHS sidelines to paydirt. Sims' successful two-point conversion run knotted things at 14-all. A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff negated an apparent Luers 83-yard TD kickoff return that was called back. After Luers completed a 47-yard pass play, Mac's defense stiffened and the Knights were forced to settle with a 39-yard field goal to end the half, 17-14. Luers took the second half kickoff and put together an eight-play, 79-yard scoring drive to stretch its lead to 24-14 with 7:41 left in the third quarter. The next 16 minutes was all defense. On its next three possessions, the Braves were forced to punt twice and turned the ball over on downs once, being stopped on a fourth-and-one at their own 26. After Luers was stopped on fourth down late in the third quarter, the Knights' next two possessions ended with a punt and another failed fourth-down try at Mac's five-yard line. Taking over at the five, disaster struck the Braves on first down when a Luers defender leaped high to nab a Robinson pass and returned it the short distance for a touchdown and 31-14 lead with 3:59 remaining. After senior AJ Kelly returned the ensuing kick 24 yards to his own 43, Robinson promptly hit Sims with a 20-yarder and the Braves were knocking at the Luers 37. MHS moved to the nine after another Knight pass interference penalty and Robinson-to-Nolan Tarrh pass went for 13 yards. Kile's nine-yard TD pass from Robinson and Sachse's PAT kick cut Luers' lead to 31-21 with 2:58 showing Maconaquah senior Brady Dausch personally stopped the next Knight drive, throwing Luers for losses on first and third down plays. Dausch, playing with a torn ACL and torn meniscus (suffered in the Peru game on September 20) led all Brave tacklers with 14 stops and four tackles-for-loss. Starting at the Mac 31 with 1:53 left, the Braves were left staring at a fourth-and-12 after a pair of incompletions and QB sack. Robinson hit Kile with a 27-yarder on fourth down and followed that with a six yard pass to Mac's career leading receiver. Sitting at the Knight 38, Kelly took a Robinson aerial and ran past Luers defenders to paydirt with 60 seconds remaining. It was 31-28 Luers after Sachse added the PAT kick. The Knights recovered the onside kick and ran two plays in the final minute to escape with the win. Following Dausch on the tackle charts were Tarrh and Kelly with 12 and 10 tackles respectively. Carsten Hollars and Conner Eldridge were each credited with eight. Joe Butcher, Dakoda Dauenhauer and Austin Ringeisen had six stops apiece. *** Brave Sideline Notes *** > > > In just his first year, coach Fenters ties coach Troy Sausaman (1999-2004) for most coaching wins in the IHSAA tournament as a Brave coach > > > Mac's defense which entered the game as the top-ranked defense in the state finished the season allowing only 8.4 points per game . . . the school's best defensive average since 1982 > > > Ringeisen finished the season with 20 tackles-for-loss, four shy of Steve Shine's record 24 in 1987 > > > Hollars led the Braves with 127 tackles in 2024, six shy of the single-season record > > > Robinson finished the game with 278 yards in the air, completing 20 of 34 passes > > > He becomes the first quarterback in school history to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season (3,155) > > > Kile caught seven passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns... the 53rd & 54th of his career > > > He caught 18 TD passes this season, breaking his own school record (16) set in 2023 > > > He set the MHS single-season record for most receiving yards (1,301) > > > Kile finished his career with 4,236 career receiving yards . . . Fourth-best in Indiana history > > > Kelly finished his career with 2,755 career receiving yards and 34 TD receptions > > > Kile finished as the No. 2 scorer in school history with 346 points > > > Kelly finished as the No. 4 scorer in school history with 256 points and career interception leader (15) > > > Sims moved into to a tie with Eric Maris in 11th place on the all-time scoring list (132 points)