ROCHESTER SHOWS GROWTH IN 32-22 VICTORY AT GROVES
BIRMINGHAM » Coming off a 2020 season where the Rochester football program went 6-0 in the regular season, the Falcons wanted to prove that last year was no fluke.
The 2020 winners of the OAA Blue moved up to the OAA White this year and has taken a few losses, but the Falcons proved that they are here to stay over the last two weeks.
Last week, Rochester fought its way to a 32-27 win over North Farmington. This week, the Falcons went on the road and defeated Birmingham Groves, 3222, to stay in the mix in the division race.
“Last year helped our kids, not only with confidence, but showing how to win week after week. This year we have great players that are making great plays. We are playing physical and really stepping up to the challenge each week,” Rochester coach Erik Vernon said of his program. “Coming into this stadium, against this program that is a well-coached team, I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. This is a big win for us.”
Rochester (4-2, 3-1 OAA White) broke a 15-15 tie late in the second quarter with a 38yard field goal from Aidan Ostentoski before halftime to take a 3-point advantage into the break.
The Falcons then scored the first 14 points of the second half to pull away from Groves (2-4, 2-2).
A key turning point in the game came midway through the third quarter. Groves’ Zach Rogers had just intercepted a pass in the endzone for a touchback. Groves would then find itself facing a fourth and 11 from its 19 and lineup to punt. Instead, the Falcons ran a fake and the attempt was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, giving Rochester the ball at the Groves’ 20.
“I thought it was there, and I think we just out-thought the block scheme on it. We were trying to jump-start something there,” Groves coach Brendan
Flaherty said of the decision. “It was there on film and we thought it was there throughout the first half, we just didn’t execute it. It’s on me. I called it, and drew up the blocking scheme myself. It just didn’t work.”
Rochester turned the failed fake punt into a 2515 advantage quickly on a 3-yard run from Grant Calcagno.
Groves threatened on the following possession, but Rochester’s Jaiden Bolden intercepted a pass in the endzone to end the threat. Junior quarterback Alex Bueno then broke the game open with a 55-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
“He’s an amazing leader. As a junior, his ability to lead the offense and make plays is truly something special,”
Vernon said of Bueno. “As a coach, you really want to enjoy having the opportunity to coach a kid like him.”
Groves would cut the score to 32-22 midway through the fourth when Stavros Panos scored on a 3-yard run for his third touchdown of the game. However, Rochester was able to run the clock out on the following possession.
Groves actually struck first on Friday on its first possession of the game. Panos took a stretch handoff and ran it 46 yards for a score to put the Falcons up 7-0.
It took Bueno and the Rochester offense a few drives to get going. After going 3-and-out on their first possession, the Falcons turned the ball over in the redzone on a 4th and 12 that resulted in an incomplete pass.
Rochester found the endzone on its third possession, driving 69 yards — mostly
through the air, to set up a 2-yard TD run by Calcagno to even the score at 7-7.
“Earlier this year, something like that happened and our guys were hanging their head and we had to really have a tough practice to get that mentality out of their heads,” Vernon said of Rochester not letting early struggles get to them on Friday. “Our seniors stepped up and made sure that that mindset was gone and they have been showing a lot more resiliency.”
On the following Groves possession, the Falcons were forced into a punt, but the snap was high, which resulted in a safety on a tackle by Cam Czerwien. That put Rochester up 9-7 after one.
Mistakes like that, and a handful of pre-snap penalties hurt a number of Groves’ possessions throughout the game.
“You can’t turn the ball over and you can’t commit unforced penalties,” Flaherty
said. “Penalties before the ball is snapped, they are drive killers. They are stuff we have to avoid. We can’t do that and win.”
The Falcons extended their lead on Groves to 15-7 on a 55-yard scoring drive midway through the second. Bueno hit Gabriel Mendoza on a pass to the 1-yard line and then snuck the ball in on the following play. The extra point was missed.
Groves answered the Rochester score with a 66yard scoring drive that saw Panos score his second touchdown on a dazzling 18-yard run that eluded a number of Rochester tacklers. A 2-point conversion pass from Max Young to Logan Flaherty tied the game at 15-15.
“Stavros Panos is probably the most underrated player in the county, if not the state. He’s a real talent. He’s very elusive and just a hard-nosed kid. I think his best football is still ahead of
him. The truth is, as good as he is at football, he’s an even better leader and a man.”
Bueno and Rochester took the ball with under two minutes to play in the half and navigated a scoring drive before the break. After a few incomplete pass attempts to the endzone, the Falcons settled for the field goal to start the 17-point rally.
Rochester remains a game behind Rochester Adams in the OAA White. The Highlanders defeated Rochester 49-10 earlier in the season and stayed unbeaten in the league with a 28-21 OT victory over North Farmington on Friday.
Rochester will look to keep their title hopes alive next week when they host Oak Park.
Groves will look to bounce back from Friday’s loss, and play spoiler in the league title race, when it travels to Rochester Adams next week.