Aberdeen Roncalli reached its midseason point, but appeared to be in late-season form Friday night.
The Cavaliers produced another solid effort and improved to 4-0 on the season following a 28-0 Northeast Conference football win over Britton-Hecla at Swisher Field
The unbeaten start is a major contrast to last year when Roncalli was 1-3 at the same stage in the season.
"We're definitely playing a lot better this year than we did last year," said Roncalli coach Terry Dosch. "We've got some kids that have another year of experience. Last year's experience and some of the disappointment in some of those games that we felt we could have won, those kids have used that as a little bit of motivation."
The Cavaliers were never in trouble against the Braves, thanks to a stellar defensive performance.
"Our defense really stepped up," said Roncalli linebacker Dalton Cox. "Our defensive line did a great job of penetrating. The quarterback didn't have much time. Defensive coordinator Coach (Justin) Briese did a great job of scouting out the team and knowing where to put us."
Roncalli got the only score it would need late in the first quarter, when Zach Lundquist fired a 20-yard strike to Kyle Martin for a touchdown. The pass came on a fourth-down play.
"They only had one guy over there," Lundquist said. "I snapped it real quick. He ran a great route and caught the ball."
Lundquist had a big night throwing the ball. He finished with 220 yards passing and also connected with Layne Holzer for a pair of touchdowns. The sophomore signal-caller was quick to credit his teammates for his success.
"Our receivers ran great routes. Our line blocked exceptional for me and it just happened," Lundquist explained.
Not that the Cavaliers needed too much offense.
Britton-Hecla only got inside the Roncalli 30-yard line once in the contest. The Braves marched down to the Cavaliers' 16 before being stopped on downs early in the final quarter.
"I thought our defense was solid," Dosch said. "I think this group of kids, defensively, they're kind of buying into what we're doing. They're getting after it. I thought we laid some pretty good licks."
Leading the way in that department was Cox, who produced a couple of pad-popping hits.
"We try to get there and gang tackle," Cox said. "The more guys you've got there the easier it is to make the tackle. We try and get 11 guys to the ball at all times."
While pleased with the victory, Dosch said there is still plenty of room for improvement. He thought his team gave up too many sacks and did not match the intensity of the Braves to start out the game.
"Britton came out and did a nice job," Dosch said. "They played really hard. We had a hard time picking up some of their blitzes and stuff."
The Cavaliers will try to remain unbeaten when they travel to Clear Lake next week to take on Deuel. The Cardinals are 3-1 on the season.
"It should be a great game," Cox said. "They have a really good quarterback in Lincoln Swenson. They've got big guys up front. So it will be a challenge for us."
Britton-Hecla (0-4)| 0 0 0 0- 0
Aberdeen Roncalli (4-0)| 6 8 14 0-28
|First Quarter|
AR - Kyle Martin 20 pass from Zach Lundquist (kick blocked), 3:31.
|Second Quarter|
AR - Layne Holzer 5 pass from Lundquist (Matt Swallow run), 8:58.
|Third Quarter|
AR - Lucas Lorenz 9 run (Colton Cox kick), 8:41.
AR - Holzer 40 pass from Lundquist (Cox kick), 4:57.
|BHS RHS
First downs|8 25
Rushes-yards|18-53 53-202
Passing|65 220
Comp-Att-Int|10-28-1 15-23-0
Punts-Avg.|7-32.8 2-51.5
Fumbles-Lost|0-0 3-0
Penalties-Yards|10-78 9-80
|INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS|
RUSHING-Britton-Hecla, Dallas Goedert 7-37, Landon Olson 7-20; Aberdeen Roncalli, Dalton Cox 15-70, Matt Swallow 9-70, Lucas Lorenz 11-48, Spencer Schaefbauer 3-35, Anthony Andera 1-12.
PASSING-Britton-Hecla, Landon Olson 10-22-1 for 65, Dallas Goedert 0-6-0 for 0; Aberdeen Roncalli, Zach Lundquist 15-22-0 for 220, Matt Swallow 0-1-0 for 0.
RECEIVING-Britton-Hecla, Nathan Jones 5-39, Dallas Goedert 2-12, Caleb Wenz 1-8, Kyle Werner 2-6; Aberdeen Roncalli, Matt Swallow 4-86, Layne Holzer 2-45, Lucas Lorenz 4-35, Kyle Martin 1-20, Dalton Cox 2-18, Brayden McNeary 2-16.
TACKLES-Britton-Hecla, Dallas Goedert 9 including 1 sack, Jadrian Guy 8 including 1 sack, Jason Hanson 8 including 1 sack; Matt Muth 6, Kyle Werner 6, Caleb Wenz 6, Landon Olson 6; Aberdeen Roncalli, Dalton Cox 5, Tyson Mitzel 5, Brayden McNeary 5, Austin Maag 3.