Maconaquah Schools

The Rochester Zebras, anchored by the state's No. 2 defense, captured the Three Rivers Conference championship Friday night by defeating the previously unbeaten Maconaquah Braves, 48-6. Rochester, now 8-1 on the year, finished TRC play at 8-0 to dethrone the defending champion Braves. Maconaquah, meanwhile, is now 8-1 overall and ended 7-1 in league play. The Braves will now travel to Twin Lakes Friday for a first-round sectional battle in the IHSAA Class 3A state tournament. Entering the contest on a six-game winning streak and allowing a minuscule four points per game, the hosts held Maconaquah to a season-low six points . . . 35 points below its season average of 41 ppg. The Zebras used their patented rushing attack (38 carries/291 yards) to jump out to an early lead on their opening possession and never looked back . . . scoring the first seven times they had the ball. They led 20-6 after the first quarter and owned a 41-6 lead at halftime, scoring in the final six seconds putting the IHSAA "Mercy Rule" in effect with a running clock being used the entire second half. After coach Michael Fenters' Braves fell behind 14-0 with 7:05 left in the opening period, MHS put together its best drive of the night and cut Rochester's lead to 14-6 five minutes later. The Braves started the drive at their own 27 after Nolan Tarrh returned Rochester's ensuing kickoff 18 yards. Mac put together a 14-play drive that covered 73 yards before Marcell Sims scored from a yard out at the 2:02 mark. Sims, who was the state's third-leading scorer entering the game, broke the MHS single-season scoring record with the TD (previously held by Carter Little). He now has 150 points. It was his 24th touchdown this year, tying the school record set by Little in 2019 for most TD's in a season. The conference's leading rusher led Maconaquah with 42 yards rushing on 13 carries. Conner Eldridge added 28 yards on five totes. Brave quarterback Aiden Robinson ended with 86 passing yards on 13 of 23 accuracy before exiting the game with 7:25 remaining. Rochester, ranked #15 in the latest AP Class 2A poll, scored on its only possession in the third quarter to finish the night's scoring, 48-6. Heading up Maconaquah's defense was Landon Morgan and Carsten Hollars, both with seven tackles. Sims and Tarrh were each credited with six stops, while Jaxon Sullivan and Joe Butcher got three apiece. > > > SIDELINE NOTES > > > . . . . Maconaquah finished the regular season ranked #6 in the AP Class 3A poll . . . its highest ranking since 1991 . . . . It was the 10th all-time meeting between both schools with the series now being tied at 5-5 . . . . Tarrh caught nine passes (68 yards) to lead MHS and now has 991 yards on the year . . . fifth-highest single-season total in school history. . . . . Hollars now has 122 tackles this year . . . fifth-most in a single season at Maconaquah . . . . The loss ended Maconaquah's school-record regular season win streak at 17 games . . . . The loss ended Maconaquah's school-record conference win streak at 15 games