MILBANK - The Milbank Area Bulldogs probably found Friday night's proceedings a little tough to swallow.
The Bulldogs had five first-quarter turnovers and watched Matt Swallow score five touchdowns to power Aberdeen Roncalli to a 44-7 Northeast Conference football victory.
All Swallow did was rush for 210 yards and three touchdowns, catch a pass for a score, and also return an interception 48 yards for a TD.
"Matt is an explosive runner," said Roncalli coach Terry Dosch. "We got him some seams."
Swallow scored on runs of 27, 79 and 45 yards.
He had three touchdowns in the first quarter alone as Roncalli took advantage of one Milbank Area turnover after another.
"Milbank early on helped us," Dosch noted. "They turned the ball over, but we made them pay."
The Bulldogs fumbled on their second play from scrimmage inside their own 20-yard line. That led to a Roncalli touchdown when Zach Lundquist hooked up with Swallow for a 17-yard scoring strike.
The tone for the night continued when Milbank Area fumbled on its very next offensive play and Swallow scored on the next snap to give Roncalli two scores within 17 seconds.
Things only got worse for the hosts, who not only fumbled again on its next possession, but then had a pass picked off and returned for a score by Swallow to push the lead to 19-0.
Milbank eventually clawed back to within 25-7 on its first play of the second half on a 44-yard touchdown pass, but Swallow matched the TD two plays later with his 79-yard run.
Roncalli tacked on two more scores for the final margin of difference.
"We played pretty well," Dosch said. "We did a lot of good things on the football field tonight."
Dosch praised the play of his defense, which has allowed only three touchdowns in three games so far this season.
"The one thing that we have really worked hard on is playing with a lot of intensity," Dosch said. "I think this particular group of kids is kind of responding to that."
The Cavaliers finished the night with 307 yards rushing and the offensive line played a key role in opening holes, according to Dosch.
"I thought our offensive line for the most part did a nice job of coming off the ball and knocking some people out of the way," he said.
Roncalli, 3-0 on the season, plays host to Britton-Hecla at 7 p.m. Friday at Swisher Field.
Dosch knows the Braves will be ready for a hard-hitting battle.
"We would expect nothing less than the biggest effort that they've got," Dosch said.
Aberdeen Roncalli (3-0) 19 6 19 0-44 Milbank Area (1-1) 0 0 7 0- 7 First Quarter AR - Matt Swallow 17 pass from Zach Lundquist (kick failed), 8:06.
AR - Swallow 27 run (pass failed), 7:49.
AR - Swallow 49 pass interception return (Colton Cox kick), 2:21.
Second Quarter
AR - Lucas Lorenz 6 pass from Lundquist (kick blocked), :51.
Third Quarter
MA - Andy Buchele 44 pass from Taylor Boerger (Alvaro Benitez kick), 11:41.
AR - Swallow 79 run (kick failed), 10:47.
AR - Dalton Cox 2 run (kick failed), 4:18.
AR - Swallow 45 run (C. Cox kick), 1:50.
RHS MHS
First downs 15 7 Rushes-yards 42-307 20-69 Passing 73 120 Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 6-24-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-3 Penalties-Yards 9-80 7-50 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Matt Swallow 14-210, Dalton Cox 16-41; Milbank Area, Spencer Folk 10-41, Barret Loehrer 3-16, Taylor Boerger 8-12.
PASSING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Zach Lundquist 5-11-0 for 73; Milbank Area, Taylor Boerger 6-24-2 for 120.
RECEIVING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Dalton Cox 2-30, Matt Swallow 1-17; Milbank Area, Andy Buchele 2-58, Taylor Tol 3-53.
The Bulldogs had five first-quarter turnovers and watched Matt Swallow score five touchdowns to power Aberdeen Roncalli to a 44-7 Northeast Conference football victory.
All Swallow did was rush for 210 yards and three touchdowns, catch a pass for a score, and also return an interception 48 yards for a TD.
"Matt is an explosive runner," said Roncalli coach Terry Dosch. "We got him some seams."
Swallow scored on runs of 27, 79 and 45 yards.
He had three touchdowns in the first quarter alone as Roncalli took advantage of one Milbank Area turnover after another.
"Milbank early on helped us," Dosch noted. "They turned the ball over, but we made them pay."
The Bulldogs fumbled on their second play from scrimmage inside their own 20-yard line. That led to a Roncalli touchdown when Zach Lundquist hooked up with Swallow for a 17-yard scoring strike.
The tone for the night continued when Milbank Area fumbled on its very next offensive play and Swallow scored on the next snap to give Roncalli two scores within 17 seconds.
Things only got worse for the hosts, who not only fumbled again on its next possession, but then had a pass picked off and returned for a score by Swallow to push the lead to 19-0.
Milbank eventually clawed back to within 25-7 on its first play of the second half on a 44-yard touchdown pass, but Swallow matched the TD two plays later with his 79-yard run.
Roncalli tacked on two more scores for the final margin of difference.
"We played pretty well," Dosch said. "We did a lot of good things on the football field tonight."
Dosch praised the play of his defense, which has allowed only three touchdowns in three games so far this season.
"The one thing that we have really worked hard on is playing with a lot of intensity," Dosch said. "I think this particular group of kids is kind of responding to that."
The Cavaliers finished the night with 307 yards rushing and the offensive line played a key role in opening holes, according to Dosch.
"I thought our offensive line for the most part did a nice job of coming off the ball and knocking some people out of the way," he said.
Roncalli, 3-0 on the season, plays host to Britton-Hecla at 7 p.m. Friday at Swisher Field.
Dosch knows the Braves will be ready for a hard-hitting battle.
"We would expect nothing less than the biggest effort that they've got," Dosch said.
Aberdeen Roncalli (3-0) 19 6 19 0-44 Milbank Area (1-1) 0 0 7 0- 7 First Quarter AR - Matt Swallow 17 pass from Zach Lundquist (kick failed), 8:06.
AR - Swallow 27 run (pass failed), 7:49.
AR - Swallow 49 pass interception return (Colton Cox kick), 2:21.
Second Quarter
AR - Lucas Lorenz 6 pass from Lundquist (kick blocked), :51.
Third Quarter
MA - Andy Buchele 44 pass from Taylor Boerger (Alvaro Benitez kick), 11:41.
AR - Swallow 79 run (kick failed), 10:47.
AR - Dalton Cox 2 run (kick failed), 4:18.
AR - Swallow 45 run (C. Cox kick), 1:50.
RHS MHS
First downs 15 7 Rushes-yards 42-307 20-69 Passing 73 120 Comp-Att-Int 5-11-0 6-24-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-3 Penalties-Yards 9-80 7-50 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Matt Swallow 14-210, Dalton Cox 16-41; Milbank Area, Spencer Folk 10-41, Barret Loehrer 3-16, Taylor Boerger 8-12.
PASSING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Zach Lundquist 5-11-0 for 73; Milbank Area, Taylor Boerger 6-24-2 for 120.
RECEIVING-Aberdeen Roncalli, Dalton Cox 2-30, Matt Swallow 1-17; Milbank Area, Andy Buchele 2-58, Taylor Tol 3-53.