ROCHELLE — Needing a win before even thinking about getting into the playoffs for the 11th straight year, the Rochelle Hubs took care of business in a big way Friday with a 44-8 home win over DeKalb.
Ben Schwartz averaged just under 20 yards per carry for the Hubs with 47- and 55-yard TD runs while rushing for 157 yards. He also had a 21-yard touchdown reception on quarterback Nate Eyster’s lone completion. Hub fullback Dan Ruppenthal had 67 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown, and tailback Josh Bernardin scored during his eight-carry, 50-yard rushing effort as the Hubs racked up 332 yards on the ground.
“We really wanted this, especially against DeKalb,” Schwartz said of the quickly-building rivalry between the two Western Sun Conference foes. “We’re all anxious to find out if we’re really in (the playoffs). We know once we get in, it’s a clean slate. Anything can happen now.”
With the win — and help from Chicago Corliss and Dixon — Rochelle (5-4, 4-3) locked in 38 playoff points and are nearly assured of getting in for the 12th time in coach Kevin Crandall’s 15 years. The playoff pairings will be released at 8 p.m. today.
“We wanted to get off to a good start, and we executed extremely well. Everybody on this team was well aware of the situation,” Crandall said. “Thirty-eight playoff points should be OK. It will be a lot less nerve-racking now — if it would have been 36, (today) would be tough.”
After falling behind 8-0 early, DeKalb (1-8, 1-6) drove 54 yards to the Hubs 9-yard-line before coughing it up on downs. From there the Hubs dominated on both sides of the ball, cruising to a 37-0 halftime lead before coasting in.
Without Damian Nelson’s 64-yard TD run with less than five minutes left, the Barbs finished with 31 yards of total offense. They had eight plays for negative yards.
“This is a good win over a big-time rival,” said Eyster, who rushed for 39 yards and two first downs on three carries. “You could tell all week in practice that we were ready for this one. This was a must-win game, and we played like it.”
Schwartz, who now has 858 yards rushing (with an 8.0-yard-per-carry average) and 320 yards receiving on the year, scored his 14th TD of the season. Ruppenthal is No. 2 on the team with 802 yards and eight TDs on the ground.
- Jay Taft, rrstar.com
