Rochester pulls away in second half to top Black Hills

ROCHESTER — Rochester A.J. Easley called it “stupid coaching.”

With less than 30 seconds until halftime in a tie game, Easley dialed up a play-action pass deep in Rochester’s territory, and it backfired. Black Hills picked the ball off and returned it for a touchdown that gave the Wolves a lead going into the break.

“We got a little greedy and they made a good play,” Easley said.

The Warriors weren’t deterred, however, as they regrouped at halftime, forced two early second half turnovers, and scored four unanswered touchdowns en route to a 35-13 win.

“I’m very proud of them for not going into tank mode,” Easley said. “Sometimes I feel like we play just a little bit better when we're behind. They get a little more fired up.”

Black Hills entered the locker room with momentum, but the Warriors took it back almost instantly once the second half began.

The Warriors sacked Jaxsen Beck on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, and they blocked a punt two plays later to set up first and goal.

Xander Peterman scored his second touchdown of the game three plays later to tie the game.

“We kind of just challenged the defense,” Easley said. “If you get us the ball and then cause some turnovers, we'll be fine.”

It took just one play for the Rochester defense to get the ball right back, as the first snap of Black Hills’ next drive sailed high over Beck’s head, and a Warrior jumped on it to set up another first and goal.

Three plays later, Ethan Rodriguez powered in to give the Warriors the lead.

Another high snap killed the Wolves next drive before it even started, and they had to punt after a three-and-out.

Beck was able to lead the Wolves downfield consistently in the first half, but they struggled to finish drives. After the rough start to the second half, the unit was far more out of step, only tallying two first downs across the third and fourth quarters.

“We just had a hard time recovering,” Black Hills coach Tom Spray said. “We lost our composure a little bit and let that get us down.”

Black Hills’ biggest play of the game came at the end of the third quarter, when Tyson Creekpaum took a deep corner route 61 yards to set the Wolves up in the red zone.

“That's a sophomore making a play down the field,” Spray said. “It's good for them to feel like they're on a varsity field, playing varsity football and making varsity plays.”

Rochester, on the other hand, was finally able to string some long drives together after running just 14 plays in the first half.

After getting the ball back up 21-13, Rochester went on a nine play drive that lasted more than five minutes. Of the nine plays on that drive, seven of them went for at least four yards.

“You get a couple like that, and you just start rolling,” Easley said.

Rochester’s final drive was even more impressive, as the Warriors drained more than nine minutes off the clock while marching 80 yards before Dominic Delgado scored his second touchdown of the game to ice it.

“If we’re gonna win more football games, that’s how we’re gonna have to play,” Easley said with a smile.

Peterman and Rodriguez finished with 89 rushing yards each to lead the Warriors, while Delgado ran for 53 on just six carries.

After narrowly losing both of their first two games, the Warriors are now 2-2 and will begin league play next Friday at Elma.

Black Hills now sits at 1-3 after three straight losses. The Wolves will return home to host Centralia in their league opener next Friday.