Big second quarter keys Rosemount’s route of Mayo

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rochester Mayo Spartans started great against the Rosemount Irish Thursday night. The Irish offense picked up a couple of first downs, but the Spartans' defense eventually forced a punt. Then, the offense used an effective short passing game to move the ball into the red zone. Then, it all fell apart. After a fumble recovery inside the ten-yard line by Rosemount's <strong>Ty Hansen</strong>, the Irish dominated – moving to 2-2 with a 34-8 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Once the Irish lined up inside their own ten-yard line, the bigger Irish offensive line took control. Early, it was the work done by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='592232' first='Brady' last='Struble']</strong>, <strong>Maxwell Townsend</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1204357' first='Talon' last='Holmen']</strong>. <strong>Ryan Kusch</strong> was the primary benefactor of the offensive line's work. He ripped off five and ten-yard runs consistently on the drive. As they moved near the red zone, Kusch – who was rarely hit until he was three or four yards downfield on the drive, broke a tackle on the second level and stretched a five-yard run into a twenty-yard run. Quarterback <strong>Tyler Japel</strong> finished the drive with a two-yard sneak to take a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Constant pressure from the Irish front seven forced a punt and got the Irish the ball back near mid-field. With the running game rolling, Japel faked the handoff and found his tight end, <strong>Kyson Leenderts</strong>, wide open on an out route. He turned up-field for twenty yards, setting the offense up in the red zone. Japel used his legs to pick up a first down and finished the drive with another short touchdown run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An explosive play on the inside by defensive tackle <strong>Philip Nti</strong> for the Irish resulted in an eight-yard loss and forced a Spartans' punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a short punt, with just over two minutes to play in the half, the Irish were far from done.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Leenderts caught his second ball of the game and dragged tacklers for almost ten yards before he was brought down. The twenty-yard gain had the Irish knocking on the door again. Kusch ran behind Townsend and Holmen and was dragging tacklers for extra yards. He didn't need to drag anyone on the next play as Townsend and Holmen opened the hole, and he went into the end zone untouched.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Up 21-0, Irish linebacker William Riddel sacked the quarterback on third down – forcing yet another punt.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It looked like the Spartans' defense was going to make a stop. However, on third and long, the offense came through again. It might have been Japel's worst pass of the first half, but he found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1145311' first='Will' last='Peroutka']</strong> on a fade route to pick up a first down. Peruotka was double-covered but still came up with the 25-yard catch. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1146315' first='Maki' last='Whelan']</strong> made a catch and got down the sidelines to set the Irish up in the red zone. <strong>Noah Alexander</strong> closed out the half with a 27-yard field goal.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The home Irish went into the locker room after almost a perfect first half, up 24-0. It was more of the same in the third quarter. After forcing a punt, Japel continued his efficient night, finding <strong>Joseph Meleckzedeck</strong> on a deep crossing route. That set up another short touchdown run. Leading 31-0, Rosemount soon had their second string in the game, and by the middle of the fourth quarter, both teams had sub down to finish off a dominating Rosemount Irish victory 34-8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->