CHICAGO — On the third play of its 5A playoff game against Chicago Robeson, Rochelle defensive back Shane McCluskey absolutely drilled Martinez Young on a pass reception, forcing a fumble. That was just a taste of many more hits to come by a vicious Hubs defense in a 40-13 win over previously unbeaten Robeson.
“As a 5-4 team, we had to let them know we meant business,” McCluskey said. “In the playoffs, you have to come out swinging.”
For the third time in four years, Rochelle came in as a 5-4 team and whipped a No. 1 or 2 seed.
“They came at us, and our kids didn’t hold up to their physicality,” Robeson coach Fabray Collins said.
Robeson did take a 6-0 lead on a fourth-down halfback option pass that fooled Rochelle, but the Hubs responded with a 11-play, 70-yard drive to tie the score on a Josh Bernardin touchdown.
On Robeson’s next series, C.J. Navarro, one of three sophomores starting both ways for Rochelle, blind-sided Juwane Pipkins to force another fumble.
Ben Schwartz gave Rochelle a 12-6 lead off the turnover on a 2-yard run. Four plays later, Schwartz was back in the end zone, this time recovering a blocked punt by leading tackler Jesse Thornton.
“That was a turning point of the game,” Collins said.
Before he was done, Schwartz would add a 55-yard touchown, an interception and a ferocious hit that forced an interception.
“You can see how four years of hard work has paid off for him,” Hub defense coach Chris Lewis said. “He has such character and is a great team leader.”
Bernardin, another sophomore, made it 26-6 midway through the third quarter on a 1-yard run. The key plays of the drive were a juggling 25-yard reception near the goal line by Navarro and a pair of downfield blocks by Dan Ruppenthal and D.J. Mollet on a 36-yard Bernardin run.
Robeson did cut the lead to 26-13 early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t stop Rochelle’s running game the rest of the game.
“Robeson is not what people think of a public league team,” Rochelle coach Kevin Crandall said. “These people know what they’re doing, and they can hit.”
Both Schwartz and Bernardin had over 100 yards rushing for Rochelle, who has been without its its best running back, injured Devon Mancillas, since the second game of the season.
- Andy Colbert, rrstar.com
