Following two comfortable victories at home, the Macomb High football team took to the road for the first time this week, heading to Schuyler County for a LincolnLand crossover contest against host Rushville-Industry.
Compared to the past two weeks, it was a relatively slow start by the Bombers. But the visitors proved to be opportunistic in posting a 55-0 victory at Bob Wixom Field.
Macomb, lurking just outside of the top 10 in the latest Associated Press Class 4A state rankings, improved to 3-0.
Rushville-Industry, playing its home opener, slipped to 0-3.
“We thought Rushville- Industry would give us our best test yet,” said MHS Head Coach Tanner Horrell. “They’re more physical than what we’ve seen so far and they were quick off the ball.”
But the Macomb defense made the first big play of the night.
On the second play from scrimmage, Tyler Schulz intercepted a Brady McGinnis pass at the Bomber 48.
MHS gained 30 yards in four plays before a personal foul penalty pushed the Bombers back to the Rocket 42.
However, quarterback Kaden Knupp connected with Kyler Norton for a 26-yard gain and a first down.
Two plays later, the two connected again, this time for a 16-yard scoring strike to give the Bombers the lead at the 7:47 mark.
Hayden Katz added the first of his seven point-after- touchdown kicks that made it 7-0.
“I was really proud of our effort to dig ourselves out of that hole and finish that drive off with a touchdown,” said Horrell.
“It was kind of like that,” he added. “We’d make mistakes, but we’d dig ourselves out. But we can’t make those mistakes going forward.”
“We’ve got to limit our big penalties,” said Horrell.
“They’re going to happen from time to time, but we’ve got to limit them.”
RIHS used a 35-yard pass play from McGinnis to Keaton Ruth on a thirdand- 19 to reach midfield on its next drive.
But three plays later, the Rockets were forced to punt.
Starting from their own 26, the Bombers needed just six plays to cover 74 yards.
Norton started the drive with a 20-yard run before Colby Martin later added a 25-yard run. Two plays later, Drake May’s 5-yard run and Katz’s PAT gave Macomb a 14-0 lead with 1:47 left in the opening period.
“Down 14-0 after a quarter, normally you’re not happy,” said RIHS coach Elliott Craig. “But in their first two games they were up 21-0 (against Knoxville) and 33-0 (against LVC) after the first quarter.”
But the Bombers added three scores in the second quarter in building a 35-0 advantage by halftime.
RIHS went for a first down on a fourth-and-1 from its own 39 and was stopped by the Macomb defense.
Eight plays later, May scored on a 7-yard run with the PAT upping the Bomber lead to 21-0 with 8:03 to go before halftime.
The Rockets then turned the ball over at their own 25 on the next possession. What looked to be a fake punt attempt on a fourthand- 5 gained only two yards.
A holding call pushed the Bombers back 10 yards, but May scored on a 35-yard run on the next play, increasing Macomb’s lead to 28-0 with 4:47 left before intermission.
The Rockets used a 20-yard run by McGinnis, along with a personal foul late hit on the Bombers to reach the Macomb 18.
But the MHS defense held, allowing just five yards on four plays to force a turnover on downs.
“We had a mistake on a punt that should’ve been kicked but it didn’t (happen),” said Craig. “And we had two drives where we got down (in Macomb territory) and just couldn’t get it in unfortunately.”
“I think that would’ve changed the outcome,” he added. “Not as from a win/ loss, but from what the halftime score might’ve been.”
Following the turnover, Macomb scored on the next play as Knupp and Norton connected for an 87-yard strike that made it 35-0 with 1:48 remaining before halftime.
“Turnovers are the name of the game if we can win the turnover battle,” said Horrell. “And we did that (this game). And our playmakers made plays.”
Deferring to the second half, the Bombers scored on the opening possession of the third quarter.
A 44-yard kick-off return by Carter Havens gave MHS the ball at the Rocket 46. Two running plays by Martin netted 37 yards.
Two plays later Jeshua McPheeters scored on a 10-yard run. A mishandled snap on the PAT left Macomb with a 41-0 lead at the 9:54 mark of the third quarter.
Johnathan Powell scored on a 30-yard run in the third quarter before Gavin Livermore’s 23-yard run capped the game’s scoring with nine minutes remaining.
Knupp finished 5-of-9 for 161 yards and two scores. Norton had four catches for 148 yards and two TDs, while Havens added one catch for 13 yards.
Eight different players combined for 274 yards on 30 carries with six scores.
May had 71 yards and three TDs on nine carries. Martin added 89 yards on eight carries.
“You’ve got to give the O-line a lot of credit for that to happen,” said Horrell.
May topped the tackle chart with nine total stops, followed closely behind by Cameron Keene, who added seven.
McGinnis finished 9-of-18 for 84 yards with two interceptions for the Rockets. RIHS managed just 35 yards rushing on 21 carries.
Kaden Knupp to Colby Martin, with Jeshua McPheeters leading the block. Photo by Andrea Ratermann
Bombers
The Bombers are back on the road next week, making the 90-mile trip to Gary Johnson Field in Wyoming to face Stark County in a LincolnLand crossover.
The Rebels are 3-0, having defeated South Fulton (27-14) in its home opener before winning at Farmington (25-18) and at Monmouth United (54-51).
The victory at Farmington was the first regular season home loss for the Farmers in 11 years. And against United, the Rebels scored on the game’s final play to escape with the victory.
“They’re athletic. They have some guys that can make plays in space,” said Horrell of Stark County. “They’re going to put a little more pressure on us as far as blitzing goes, so we’re going to have to be really aware of that.”
“We know it’s going to be a battle and a long road trip,” he added. “We’re going to have to come out a lot better than we did (this game).”
“We’ve just got to continue to do our jobs and communicate,” said Horrell. “And maybe get on the grass field a little bit more during practice.”
Kyler Norton Photo by Andrea Ratermann
