INDIANAPOLIS
Junior running back Luke Hansen got the Roncalli football team off and running Friday night.
Hansen scored on 46-yard touchdown with less than two minutes gone en route to a career-high 182 yards on 19 carries in the Class 4A No. 1 Royals’ 42-14 sectional semifinal rout of visiting Lebanon.
Roncalli (11-0), which has won 23 games in a row, will now host Bishop Chatard (7-4) for the championship net week.
While Hansen got the first big score, Roncalli senior quarterback Aidan Leffler kept Lebanon (7-4) off balance.
“It was raining but Aidan was able to spread the field with his passes,” Hansen said. “We relied on our line. They got a lot of push up front. We were able to run the ball well with our O-line.”
After leading 35-7 at halftime, Roncalli boosted the lead to 42-7 on the first possession of the third quarter. The Royals scored on senior Caden Gore’s 8-yard TD run, his second touchdown of the game.
“Coach told us to come out fast,” Hansen said of the second half. “Put the pedal to the metal and try to put them away quick. We didn’t want to give them a chance to get anything going.”
Roncalli senior receiver Kyle Lockard had six catches for 196 yards, including a 77-yard TD.
“Kyle was being Kyle; he did a nice job,” Roncalli coach John Rodenberg said.
Leffler completed 10 of 15 passes for 220 yards.
“We opened up throwing the ball,” Rodenberg said. “In (Lebanon’s) three losses, they had given up a lot of passing yards. We tried to attack with the pass and run the ball after that. We did what we wanted to do.”
Rodenberg said he was wasn’t worried about Leffler throwing the wet football.
“Aidan has big hands and it was warm out, so I didn’t think that was too much of a factor,” Rodenberg said.
Hansen gave the Royals a 7-0 lead with that 46-yard TD with 10:01 left in the opening quarter. Roncalli boosted the lead to 14-0 on Leffler’s 77-yard TD pass to Lockard with 7:41 left in the first quarter.
It took the Tigers less than a minute to cut the lead to 14-7. A 79-yard run by Lebanon running back Trevor Winkles put the ball down on the 1-yard line. Braxton Bowen then scored from 1 yard out.
The Royals pushed the lead to 21-7 on Leffler’s 7-yard TD pass to Gore with 3:34 remaining in the first quarter.
Hansen’s 26-yard TD run boosted Roncalli a 28-7 lead with 7:22 to go in the second quarter. Leffler’s 1-yard TD run with 45 seconds left in the quarter gave the Royals a 35-7 halftime lead.
The Roncalli defense kept the Tigers in check most of the way and got the game’s only two turnovers with an interception and fumble recovery.
“(Winkles) is an electric back; he had some good moves and a little bit of speed,” Rodenberg said. “We blitzed on the big play where he gained all the yards. Otherwise, I think we stopped them pretty well.”
Winkles scored Lebanon’s second TD late in the third quarter on 1-yard run.
The Royals beat Chatard 28-21 Sept. 3. Roncalli was up 28-7 before Chatard scored the final 14 points.
“It’s going to be a hard-hitting game and it will be a fun game,” Rodenberg said. “We’ll give the fans everything that they want to see.”
