Maconaquah Schools

Maconaquah's Nolan Tarrh booted a 23-yard field goal with 1:39 left in the game Friday night to break a 28-all deadlock and keep the Braves undefeated on the season with a 31-28 win over the upset-minded Peru Tigers. The Three Rivers Conference win keeps coach Michael Fenters' troops, now 5-0, atop the league standings with a perfect 4-0 mark. Rochester kept its league slate perfect (4-0) with a 34-0 win vs Lewis Cass and remains the only other unbeaten team in the TRC. Peru dropped to 1-3 in the conference and fell to 1-4 on the year. "I just wanted to get the ball down and kick it through," said Tarrh after the hard-fought game that saw Peru erase a 28-7 second-quarter deficit. It was the second field goal of his career and capped a furious fourth quarter game-winning drive after Peru had tied the game in the topsy-turvy, intra-county battle. The Braves marched 59 yards in nine plays to score the game's first touchdown, a two-yard TD run by Marcell Sims. Tarrh's first of four perfect PAT kicks gave Mac a 7-0 lead at the 9:07 mark. Maconaquah's Carsten Hollars recovered a Peru fumble at the Tiger 31 on the ensuing kickoff to set up the next score for the winners. After a pair of MHS penalties moved the pigskin back to the Mac 49, the Braves went to work. Peru was hit with a facemask penalty after quarterback Aiden Robinson hit Martin Alexander with an eight-yard pass. With the ball at the Peru 38 it took only two plays . . . a 15-yard run by Sims followed by a Sims 23-yard TD gallop . . . before the Braves jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Sims finished the game with a career-high 290 yards on 31 carries, second-best single-game effort in school history. Carter Little holds the record with a 320-yard game vs Peru in 2019. After the visitors scored midway through the opening quarter, Maconaquah took only 19 seconds to score again as Conner Eldridge rambled 44 yards with a Robinson pass, followed by a Robinson-to-Tarrh 29-yard TD strike. . . 21-7. The Braves seemed to have things control when they put together a methodical eight-play, 83-yard scoring drive in the second period to take a seemingly-safe 28-7 lead with 4:05 on the clock. Peru answered with its own eight-play scoring drive, covering 67 yards late in the quarter and taking a little momentum into the second half .... trimming Mac's lead to 28-14 at intermission and getting the second half kickoff. The Tigers cut the deficit to 28-21 with 5:37 left in the third quarter after completing an 11-play, 62-yard TD drive. After Nate Rader returned the ensuing kick to his own 30, Sims had consecutive runs of 22, 21 and 18 yards moving Maconaquah to within nine yards of paydirt. The Braves reached the one-yard line but coughed it up with 3:54 on the clock... with Peru snagging the bobble in midair and returning to their own 33. A 51-yard TD run by Peru four plays later knotted things at 28-28 and set up the final frantic 14 1/2 minutes of the game. Fourth quarter action saw Mac's defense tighten up and force a pair of PHS punts, with the Braves taking possession of the second kick at the 6:29 mark . . . setting up the game-winning drive, taking over at the Tiger 49. After one of Mac's 10 penalties moved the Braves back to their own 41, Tarrh took a Robinson pass 10 yards to midfield. A short pass to Jorden VanNess sandwiched four carries by Sims had the Braves threatening at the Tiger 22. Robinson then got loose for a six-yard carry, followed by a Sims gain of five and a first down at the 11. After a pair of Sims totes and another keeper by Robinson moved the ball to the six the Braves were facing a critical fourth-and-five. Enter the calm-and-collected Tarrh. Sims took a perfect snap from Camron Metcalf... placed the ball down at the 13 and Tarrh connected on the game-winning field goal from 23 yards out. The Tigers final chance for the upset came up short when they turned the ball back over to MHS after coming up a yard shy on a fourth-and-four play at their own 41. Robinson ran out the final 50 seconds by taking a knee on the last two plays of the wild game. Both teams combined for nearly 880 yards of total offense, with Peru edging Mac 310-298 on the ground. The Braves won the air battle with Robinson completing 17 of 25 passes good for 226 yards. Peru had 40 passing yards. The penalty-plagued contest saw Mac whistled 10 times for 75 yards, while the Tigers drew eight flags for 60 yards. Unofficially, Hollars led the Braves with 18 tackles . . . and Mac needed every one vs a very determined Tiger team. With the big game, he moved past Brian Otto to #5 all-time with 256 career tackles. Hollars missed eight games with an injury in 2023 and has anchored the Brave defense from his linebacker position the past two years. (Note: MHS tackle records are not available from 1963-1984). Joe Butcher had eight stops, while Gibson Daily, Eldridge and Metcalf were each credited with seven. Getting six apiece were: Tarrh, Landon Morgan and Eli Grzegorski. DaKoda Dauenhauer had five tackles, while Hollars and Sullivan recovered Peru fumbles. Metcalf had one forced fumble, stopping a PHS drive at the Mac 31 late in the first period. SIDELINE NOTES > > > . . . It is the third straight MHS win vs Peru after registering a pair of shutout victories last year. Peru now leads the all-time series, 30-25, dating back to 1963 . . . The win is the 14th straight regular season win and 12th consecutive TRC win... both school records . . . The 5-0 start is the fourth-best start at Maconaquah. The 1982 and 1991 teams started at 6-0, while last years squad rattled off 12 straight wins. All three teams were conference champions . . . Sims became the third player in school history to rush for 200+ yards in three games as a Brave. Luther McDonald had three 200+ yard games, while Cody Hicks rushed for over 200 eight times. . . . Maconaquah remained the same in the polls this week. AP #6, IFCA #8 and #5 in the USA/Today poll . . . The Braves will trek to Northwestern with their 5-0 slate on Friday for another TRC battle *************************************************************************************************** Special thanks to the MHS Athletic Booster Club for hosting the 21st Annual Athletic Scholarship Golf Outing last Sunday at the Peru Municipal Golf Course. Also Jake Tschiniak and Crew at the Muni along with tournament director Charlie Hubler. >>> Winning team members included: Assistant football coach Bill Tabler, Stacy Broyles, Jon "Reno" Reibly and Dustin Hays. . . . IT WAS A GREAT WEEK TO BE A BRAVE!!!