Maconaquah Schools

The Maconaquah Braves treated a large homecoming crowd to a 62-0 Three Rivers Conference victory over the Whitko Wildcats Friday night. The win moves Maconaquah to 4-0 on the year and kept the Braves atop the TRC standings with a 3-0 mark. Lewis Cass and Rochester won Friday evening to remain spotless (3-0) in league play and keep pace with the Braves. Whitko is now 1-3 on the year and dropped to 0-3 in the TRC. After coach Michael Fenters' defending TRC champions were stopped on their opening drive of the game they took control and manhandled the Wildcats the rest of the way.... racking up 471 yards of total offense while holding Whitko to 87. Mac's defense was in command all night, allowing Whitko to cross midfield only three times during the game and no further than the MHS 48 yard line. Junior quarterback Aiden Robinson keyed the offensive attack. Leading the state with 14 TD passes entering the game, he tossed six vs the Wildcats and finished the game hitting on 24 of 30 attempts for 391 yards..... fifth highest single-game total in school history. Both of Nate Rader's catches (31 & 22 yards) went for touchdowns. Marcell Sims led all receivers with 123 yards on six receptions. Nolan Tarrh (6-87), Conner Eldridge (3-59), Alexzander Martin (3-37), Carsten Hollars (3-28) and Camron Metcalf (1-4) added to the offensive output. Sims, Eldridge, Tarrh and Hollars each grabbed a TD pass. Eldridge had another (a 72-yard grab-and-go TD) called back. A 31-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to Rader midway through the first quarter got Mac out to 6-0 lead. After Tarrh booted one of his four PAT kicks.... the rout was on. Mac's defense put the next points on the board late in the period when Metcalf tackled a Wildcat in the endzone for a safety and 9-0 lead. Maconaquah special teams struck next when Tarrh took the ensuing free kick at his own 44 yard line, evaded tacklers at the Wildcat 35 and scooted 56 yards to paydirt. He added the PAT and shoved the lead to 16-0 with 1:06 showing. The Braves got the pigskin back six ticks later when Hollars forced a fumble on the Whitko kick return and Sullivan recovered the loose ball. Sims' 22-yard TD run with :16 remaining gave MHS a 22-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Robinson fired touchdown passes to Tarrh (six yards), Rader (22 yards) and Sims (62 yards) in the second act to put the Braves on top, 42-0, at intermission. Tarrh ended Whitko's final drive of the half with one of his two interceptions on the night... getting a second pick on the Wildcat's opening drive in the third period. After the Braves took the second half kickoff, Robinson hit Tarrh with a 27-yard strike and then went to Eldridge. The 5'7" senior scatback took a short pass and skirted down Whitko's sidelines untouched 38 yards to the house. Colton Beebe added the PAT, 49-0. The do-it-all Hollars caught three passes on Mac's next drive and hauled in a five-yard TD pass late in the quarter. Jaxon Cole's perfect extra-point kick after Sims scooted in from 20 yards out with 4:43 left in the game provided the final count, 62-0. It is believed to be the first time in Mac's 63-year history that three different Braves successfully booted PAT kicks in a game. Unofficially, Hollars and Tarrh led Mac tacklers with 10 stops apiece. Jakob Grant and Metcalf each got seven. DaKoda Dauenhauer had six tackles, while Landon Morgan and Sullivan were each credited with five. Sideline Notes >>> . . . . The Braves are ranked #6 in the latest Class 3A AP poll ... #8 in the IFCA coaches poll ... and #5 in the USA/Today poll. . . . . Maconaquah now leads the all-time series with Whitko, 10-2 . . . including wins in the last nine games vs Whitko . . . . It is the sixth 4-0 start in school history, including last year's 12-0 start. The 1978 and 1996 teams won their first four games. The 1982 and 1991 Mac teams won their first six games and both were conference champs . . . . The victory is Maconaquah's 13th straight regular-season win and 11th straight TRC win . . . . The 62 points vs Whitko is the third-highest single-game total in MHS history . . . . Sims moved past Vernon Robinson on Mac's career scoring list and becomes only the fifth player in school history to score over 200 points. He now has 204. Carter Little is the all-time leader with 386 points . . . . Tarrh jumped past Dominic Brogan into ninth place on the all-time scoring list with 163 points . . . . Nate Rader and Lacey Ramos were crowned King/Queen during halftime festivities . . . . The Braves will try to move to 5-0 Friday night when county-rival Peru travels to Maconaquah in a TRC game