Rochester football team pulls away for win over Springdale

By: Michael Love
Friday, November 12, 2021 | 10:41 PM

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Rochester and Springdale were knotted at seven at halftime of Friday’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinal at Freedom’s Jimbo Covert Field.

But the Rams grabbed the lead early in the third and added a pair of scores in the fourth to finalize a 27-7 victory.

“Springdale is a good football team. We knew they were going to bring their best against us, and that’s what they did,” Rochester veteran coach Gene Matsook said.

“We made a couple of adjustments at halftime. We put them in some things we wanted to put them in, and it paid off for us. Our kids were patient. I told them that they are not going to beat teams 35-0 every week. The kids learned tonight that you have to play a four-quarter game, and they did an excellent job.”

Rochester, the fifth seed, improved to 9-2 and will play in the WPIAL semifinals for the second year in a row. The Rams will face No. 9 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a 29-15 upset winner over Clairton on Friday.

The game was the fifth between Rochester and Springdale, all coming in the playoffs. The Rams also defeated the Dynamos in last year’s quarterfinals.

Springdale, which upset No. 4 West Greene in the first round last week, finished its season at 7-5.

“That is a really good football team we just played,” Dynamos coach Seth Napierkowski said. “They are really well-coached. Everything seemed to be clicking for us in the first half. (Rochester) made adjustments at halftime. Obviously, we didn’t make enough adjustments. That was the difference.”

Sal Laure scored two rushing touchdowns and finished with 104 yards on 15 carries for a Rochester rushing attack that collected 198 yards on 45 attempts. Denny Robinson added 14 carries for 70 yards, and Antonio Laure contributed 42 yards on 11 totes.

Conversely, the Rochester defense held Springdale to minus-12 yards rushing.

Sal Laure gave Rochester the lead for good at the 10-minute, 26-second mark of the third quarter with a 22-yard run.

The Rams started to take control offensively, but still it was a one-score game heading to the fourth.

Rochester got some breathing room midway through the final quarter as quarterback JD Azulay found Jerome Mullins in the end zone from 11 yards.

Azulay completed 5 of 7 passes for 65 yards to complement the run game.

Dom Guido capped the scoring for the Rams just 29 seconds later as he intercepted Springdale quarterback Legend Ausk and took it back 35 yards.

“JD did a really nice job as we were able to get after them a little bit with the passing game,” Matsook said. “It was a good nine-unit-strong night on both sides of the ball and also in all three phases. Now we move on.”

Springdale was in good shape to put the first points on the board late in the first quarter.

The Dynamos drove from their 21 to the Rochester 2 and set up with a first-and-goal. But on third-and-goal from the 5, Legend Ausk was picked off in the end zone by Antonio Laure.

Rochester started the ensuing drive at its 20 and marched 80 yards in 13 plays. Sal Laure ran the final 3 yards for a touchdown with 6:57 left until halftime.

Springdale answered the Rams scoring drive with its lone points of the game. Ausk completed three passes for 63 yards on the drive with the final 21 coming on a TD connection to Logan Dexter.

Ausk finished with 126 yards through the air. The TD strike was his 13th of the season.

Five of Ausk’s completions went to John Utiss for 104 yards.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Rochester, Springdale