Maconaquah Schools

The much-anticipated "Top10" matchup at Maconaquah Friday night lived up to its billing as the Braves used a balanced attack to smack the visiting Carroll Cougars, 41-21. Meeting for the first time ever, both teams were highly ranked in the lastest AP poll with Carroll being tabbed as the #2 team in Class 1A. The Braves entered the hard-hitting battle ranked #8 in Class 3A. "That's the effort we need moving forward," said Mac head coach Michael Fenters following the game. "You played 48 minutes non-stop and you've got a target on your back," he told the players. Offensive coordinator Scott Robinson said: "we've got a lot of weapons and the sky's the limit." Assistant coach Dan Robinson chimed in: "This is a team victory.... a quality win." It took a gallant effort to stop the Cougars, who entered the game winning their last 19 regular season contests. During that 19-game win streak Carroll was averaging 42 points per outing. The huge win is over the highest-ranked team since 2018 when the Braves defeated Class 1A No. 2 North Central, 35-28. Maconaquah, now 2-0, extended its school-record regular season win streak to 11 games and will return to Three Rivers Conference warfare at Northfield Friday evening. After the game began with Carroll taking a slim 6-0 lead into the second quarter, Mac scored on its next five possessions and bolted to a 35-14 lead heading into the final stanza. Both teams scored once in the final 12 minutes. The Brave defense highlighted first quarter action. Carroll's opening drive was halted at midfield when Marcell Sims picked off a Cougar pass deflected by Nolan Tarrh. Tarrh was in on the action again midway through the period when he recovered a Carroll fumble after a big hit by "Double_D" Dakoda Dauenhauer. Mac took its first lead of the night two minutes into the second act when Tarrh was on the receiving end of a 19-yard TD strike from Aiden Robinson. Colton Beebe added the PAT kick, 7-6. The Braves recovered the ensuing kickoff deep in Cougar territory, but a phantom dead-ball whistle gave Carroll possession after Beebe re-kicked. Facing a crucial fourth-and-one at the MHS 27 with 5:54 left in the half, the Cougars were stopped cold and the Braves took over. After a short pass to Conner Eldridge moved it to the 19, Jorden VanNess took a short pass, escaped a few defenders at the 12 and danced his way into the endzone for a 13-6 lead. Carroll fought back, taking what looked like a 14-13 lead with 84 ticks remaining after completing a 72-yard, eight play drive. Tarrh gave MHS great field position with a 30-yard kickoff return and the Braves went to work, covering 56-yards in five plays to grab a 21-14 lead at intermission. The go-ahead scoring drive found Robinson connecting on passes to Sims and Eldridge before VanNess hauled in a 19-yard TD toss at the :34 mark. Sims added the two-point conversion run for the seven point cushion, 21-14, at the break. The Braves took control and blew the game open in the third period, 35-14, on a pair scores... the final one set up by Carsten Hollars' 15-yard interception return to the Cougar 25. Robinson connected with Tarrh on a TD aerial on first down... Beebe added the PAT kick and Mac led 35-14. The Braves took the second half kickoff and had their most impressive scoring drive of the game, covering 64 yards on 12 plays and using 5:56 of precious clock. Sims' 18-yard TD pass from Robinson and Beebe's point-after boot gave Mac a 28-14 lead with 6:14 showing. Carroll scored in the opening minute of the fourth period, trimming Maconaquah's lead to 35-21. After the Braves turned the ball over, the Cougars came up empty on their final two possessions, ending with punts. Maconaquah, meanwhile, put the finishing touches on the "quality win" when Eldridge scampered in from two yards out with 2:46 left in the game. The Braves' balanced offensive attack was led by the hard-running Sims and the accurate arm of gunslinger Robinson. Sims, who entered the game as the state's leading scorer, finished with a game-high 199 yards on 24 carries. Robinson, the state's leading passer (yards) after Week 1, tossed five TD passes, connecting on 16 of 17 attempts for 185 yards. Tarrh led Mac receivers with 79 yards on six receptions. VanNess caught three passes (two for TD's) and ended with 44 yards. Tarrh was leading the state in receiving (ypg) after his school-record 247 yard night in the season-opener at Wabash. Unofficially, Hollars topped the defense with 21 tackles. Dauenhauer (12 stops) and Sims (11) were followed by Landon Morgan and Camron Metcalf who finished with eight and seven respectively. Credited with six each were: Jaxon Sullivan, Tarrh, and Joe Butcher. SIDELINE NOTES>>> *** Robinson became only the second MHS quarterback in school history to pass for over 4,000 yards in a career and moved past Jon Morrell into second place all-time with 4,086 yards *** Sims moved into a tie in seventh place (with Phillip Garnett) on the career-scoring list with 178 points *** Tarrh moved past Eric Maris, Alan Mills and Jerry Peters into 10th place on the all-time scoring list (143 points) *** Carroll was coached by former Maconaquah multi-sport star athlete Blake Betzner *** IT WAS A GREAT NIGHT TO BE A BRAVE!!!