Results from Maconaquah for Friday, September 25th
It was a BIG night for the Maconaquah Braves.
It was a CAREER night for Aiden Robinson and Marcell Sims.
The Braves took sole possession of first place in the Three Rivers Conference with a 77-35 blowout win over the
Northwestern Tigers before a large Homecoming standing room only Brave crowd Friday night.
The victory leaves first-year coach Ethan Robbins and his 6-0 Braves as the only unbeaten team in league play. Seeking its second TRC crown in the past three seasons, Maconaquah handed NW its first conference loss and snapped the Tigers three-game win streak. Northwestern is now 4-2 on the year and is 4-1 in the TRC. Lewis Cass is the only other team with one loss (4-1 after beating Whitko) and the Braves will travel to Cass Friday night.
After a slow start with an interception and a pair of turnover on down possessions in the opening period, Mac’s well-oiled offensive machine scored touchdowns on nine of it’s next 10 possessions and got a 39-yard TD interception return by senior Aiden Ousley with 3:55 remaining to put an exclamation point on the blowout triumph. Nolan Tarrh picked up a loose ball on the final PAT kick attempt and ran in for the final two points and the school-record tying 77 points. The Braves beat Wabash 77-0 in 2024.
Maconaquah scored its first TD and cut its deficit to 13-7 when Jorden Van Ness hauled in a 10-yard strike from Robinson with :35 showing on the first quarter clock. Tarrh would add the first of seven PAT kicks.
After a NW punt, Tarrh stepped into the spotlight again…. this time taking a Robinson pass threaded between a pair of Tiger defenders and racing 58-yards to paydirt. Tarrh again hit the PAT for a 14-13 Mac lead and the Braves never trailed the rest of the way.
The Braves would score 28 straight unanswered points after trailing early in the game and added their next two scores via the pass . . . an 11-yard Robinson-to-Tarrh pass and a dandy 86-yard bomb to Tre Rader. Rader’s reception was 8th longest in school history and started at the Mac 14 after a NW punt. Rader took a pass from Robinson, got hit at the 32 and then evaded two Tigers at the 50 and went the distance, making it 28-13. Northwestern closed the gap to 28-19 at intermission with a TD pass. Evan Blake blocked the point-after attempt. Aided by the long pass to Rader, Robinson threw for 204 yards in the second quarter.
MHS got interceptions by Van Ness and freshman Jayden Fitzpatrick on Northwestern’s opening two possessions to start the third quarter and Robinson and gang made the Tigers pay for their misfires. Touchdown passes to Treson Ambrose (31 yards) and Rader (25 yards) moved the Brave lead to 41-19 just three minutes inside the period. After the Tigers chopped it to 41-27, Marcell Sims dashed in from 11 yards out and ran in the converstion attempt for a 49-27 Brave lead. The lead jumped to 56-27 when Robinson hit Tarrh with a 10-yard TD pass. The Tigers scored in the final minute to make it 56-35 heading into the fourth period.
The Braves added three touchdowns in the final 12 minutes to post the school-record 77 point total. Sims scored from the one at 11:01, becoming Maconaquah’s career scoring leader. He finished the game with 14 points giving him 392 in his stellar career. Carter Little previously held the record with 386 points set in 2020. Rader’s third TD reception (25-yards) triggered a running clock under the IHSAA “Mercy Rule” and Ousley finished the job with his 39-yard theft late in the game.
Rader led all receivers with 158 yards and three touchdowns on seven catches. Tarrh followed with 106 yards and three TD’s on seven grabs. Tarrh, the all-time kick scoring leader at MHS has now scored 297 points in his career.
Sims powered Mac’s ground attack and led all rushers with 183 yards on 21 carries. He was the state’s fifth-leading scorer entering the game, despite sitting out three games earlier in the season after suffering an injury in Mac’s season-opener at Sheridan.
Tarrh led the defensive charts with 14 tackles, while Blake and Fitzpatrick were each credited with 11 stops. DaKoda Dauenhauer added 9 tackles, including three tackles for loss. Other leading tacklers were: Jaxon Sullivan (7), Chase Washburn (7) and Ousley (6).
Here’s what Mac’s offensive linemen had to say about the big nights by Robinson and Sims.
Tyler Adams . . . (on Sims) . . . “I just have to hold my block for two seconds and he’s gone! All I see is the back of him”
Brayden Tabler . . . (Sims) . . . “It’s awesome having Marcell”
Eli Grzegorski . . . (Sims) . . . ” Marcell is a great guy and one helluva running back. We’ll fight for him”
Dauenhauer . . . (Sims) . . . “I’ve been playing with him since the third grade. He makes us look good regardless
if we mess up or not”
Comments on teammate Robinson
Adams . . . “We’re very lucky to have Aiden, Nolan and all our wideouts”
Tabler . . . “Aiden takes so much off my job with his calls”
Grzegorski . . . “I’ve been playing with Aiden since the third grade and the kid has got an arm”
Dauenhauer . . . “When it really counts he’ll put the ball down the field”
>>> Chase Washburn concluded: “I’m very blessed to work with an amazing group of athletes and
coaching staff”
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SIDELINE NOTES > > >
. . . The 112 combined total points by both teams is a new school record
. . . Robinson set a new school record with his eight TD passes. Robinson and Braxton Birner held the previous
record with seven touchdown passes. He has now thrown 96 TD passes in four years… another record
. . . Robinson finished the game by completing 22 of 37 passes good for 367 yards and became Mac’s
career leader in passing yardage. He now has 7878 yards, eclipsing Birner’s mark of 7733 set in 2023
. . . Five interceptions by the MHS defense is a school record for most in a game
. . . 550 yards of Total Offense ranks #5 for most-ever at Maconaquah in a game
. . . 49-points in the second half is fourth-most in a half by a Maconaquah team
. . . The penalty-plagued game saw 35 flags thrown totaling 364 yards
. . . Seven of the Brave TD’s were scored on drives that lasted less than 60 seconds
. . . Maconaquah has now defeated NW six straight times and leads the all-time series, 35-24
. . . The Braves were ranked #9 in this weeks Class 3A USA Today poll and #12 in the latest IFCA poll
. . . Robbins became the third coach in school history to begin the season with a 6-0 record.
Michael Fenters did it the past two seasons and Bart Curtis (now at Warsaw) started 6-0 in 1991
. . . The Braves have now won a school-record 14 consecutive regular season games at home
. . . Homecoming King and Queen were Nolan Tarrh and Macey Nord
