It took the Rochester Community and Technical College football a little while to kick it into gear on Saturday, but once the Yellowjackets got rolling they eased past Fond du Lac.
RCTC, ranked No. 6 in the nation among junior college teams, improved to 6-0 with a 59-8 win over Fond du Lac at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium.
RCTC held a slim 6-0 lead after one quarter but scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 31-8 lead at the half.
Fond du Lac (3-3) entered the game with a very stingy defense, having given up just 46 points in its first five games. A look at the scoreboard shows the Yellowjackets surpassed that total on Saturday, but RCTC had to work hard for its points and took advantage of some Thunder miscues for some quick scores.
Rooney completed 25 of 39 passes for 424 yards and three touchdowns against the Thunder.
He was aided by a strong receiving cast and he also scrambled out of danger to find an open target on at least a half dozen plays.
Rooney founded Landon Covington on a 78-yard catch-and-run score early in the second quarter for a 13-0 RCTC lead. After Devon Robinson rushed for the second of his three short TDs for a 19-0 lead, Fond du Lac scored eight straight points.
The Thunder’s lone touchdown cut the gap to 19-8, but the Yellowjackets quickly responded on their next possession when Rooney found Jalen Esters with a 33-yard score less than two minutes later.
A Bradnon Gaither interception set up Robinson’s third TD of the half, with just 51 seconds left in the second quarter.
A special teams play got RCTC on the board quickly in the third quarter as James Lassa scooped up a fumble by the Thunder punter and went eight yards for a TD. It was the linebacker’s second touchdown of the season.
Fond du Lac struggled to move the ball much of the day, especially in the second half. The Thunder was held to 183 yards, 48 in the second half, and had to punt 13 times. The RCTC defense had four sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery.
RCTC scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and two were one-play drives. Patrick Bolton, who caught six passes for 72 yards and a TD, had a 29-yard punt return to set up Wesley Tucker’s 35-yard scoring run. Cody Slaasted had a fumble recover to set up Montrel Moore’s 3-yard TD run.
The Yellowjackets had five rushing touchdowns. But Rooney said the offense got going when it went to the spread attack and he threw two completions down to the Thunder 1-yard-line to go with his three TD passes.
RCTC 59, Fond du Lac 8
SCORING SUMMARY
Fond du Lac 0 8 0 0 — 8
RCTC 6 25 7 21 — 59
FIRST QUARTER
RCTC — Devon Robinson 4 run (kick failed), 9:19. Drive: 6 plays, 49 yards. Key play: Patrick Bolton 25 pass from Nick Rooney.
SECOND QUARTER
RCTC — Landon Covington 78 pass from Nick Rooney (Matthew Gulland kick), 12:56. Drive: 3 plays, 78 yards. Key play: The TD came on a third-and-10 play.
RCTC — Robinson 1 run (Bad snap, fumble on kick attempt), 11:13. Drive: 3 plays, 41 yards. Key plays: Terrance Bowers 27 pass, Jalen Esters 29 pass from Rooney.
FDL — 2-point conversion, Damon Barnes returns fumble 90 yards on RCTC conversion attempt.
FDL — Te’Vaughn Hurse 55 run (pass failed), 7:53. Drive: 1 plays, 55 yards.
RCTC — Jalen Esters 33 pass from Rooney (pass failed), 6:35. Drive: 4 plays, 54 yards. Key plays: Montrel Moore 12 run; Easters 14 pass from Rooney.
RCTC — Robinson 1 run (pass failed), 0:51. Drive: 2 plays, 27 yards. Key plays: Esters 26 pass from Rooney; Brandon Gaither interception to set up drive.
THIRD QUARTER
RCTC — James Lassa 8 fumble return (Gulland kick), 13:23. Key play: The TD came after the FDL punter fumbled a snap.
FOURTH QUARTER
RCTC — Patrick Bolton 12 pass from Rooney (Gulland kick), 14:10. Drive: 5 plays, 59 yards. Key play: Cody Scherff 31 pass from Rooney.
RCTC — Wesley Tucker 35 run (Gulland kick), 12:03. Drive: 1 play, 35 yards. Key play: Bolton 29 punt return to set up drive.
RCTC — Montrel Moore 3 run (Gulland kick), 10:44. Drive: 1 play, 3 yards. Key play: Cody Slaasted fumble recovery to set up drive.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING —
Fond du Lac, Te’Vaughn Hurse 15-88, Josh Bender 4-18, Tyrone Eastern 2-6, Jalen Simmons 4-4, Carter Kendarian 13-(-2), Jarred White 3-(-27), Team 1-(-25).
RCTC, Wes Tucker 4-44, Montrel Moore 5-42, Devon Robinson 12-33, Raymonte Maynard 2-15, Joey Lanier 1-1, Terrance Bowers 1-(-21), Nick Rooney 5-(-28).
PASSING —
Fond du Lac, Carter Kendarian 9 – 18- 89 yards; Jarred White 6-18-0-1, 32 yards; Aaron Nelson 0-1-0-0, 0 yards.
RCTC, Nick Rooney 25-39-3-1, 424 yards; Joey Lanier 1-1-0-0, 9 yards.
RECEIVING —
Fond du Lac, Damon Barnes 7-101, Tyrone Eastern 3-9, Sam Johnson 2-4, Te’Vaughn 2-1, Stratman Cook 1-11.
RCTC, Jalen Esters 8-134, Patrick Bolton 6-72, Terrance Bowers 3-45, Connor Watts 3-54, Landon Covington 2-76, Cody Scherff 2-49, Andre Jacobson 1-9, Montrel Moore 1-3.
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