INDIANAPOLIS
One drive inside the red zone was all it took for the Roncalli defense to wake up in its Class 4A sectional quarterfinal.
After nearly allowing Shortridge to tie the score near the end of the first quarter, the Royals decided they were done playing around. They came up with a sack of James Edmondson to end the Blue Devils’ threat, then attacked Shortridge’s defense through both the ground and air.
Luke Hansen scored three first-half touchdowns and Charlie Elsener hauled in a pair of touchdown passes as the Royals piled up 36 points in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the Roncalli defense didn’t allow Shortridge to cross midfield again until the fourth quarter, resulting in a 43-point halftime lead that became a 57-0 victory.
“Sometimes when you’re used to a certain game speed week in and week out and you get a different look, it takes our guys a little bit to adjust,” Roncalli coach Eric Quintana said. “But they adjusted quick. Our guys prepare extremely hard, and sometimes we take a second to get up to speed.”
Once the Royals (9-1) did get up to speed, there was no stopping them. Roncalli initially struggled to get a handle on Shortridge’s powerful running back Ronald Graham, but eventually, the Royals’ defense broke through the Blue Devils’ line and left Graham with little room to maneuver.
With their best weapon neutralized, the Blue Devils (4-5) had little chance to keep the Royals at bay. Following the first-quarter stop, Hansen quickly made it count by leading Roncalli on a drive that he finished with a 12-yard run, a score that opened the floodgates.
“Luke’s been doing great stuff all year, and our guys up front really blocked well for him,” Quintana said. “I’m really proud of our guys; it was good for our whole program and a good win today.”
The Royals’ offensive outburst from that point on was a true team effort, as Roncalli’s defense consistently gave the offense short fields to work with. After Hansen’s second touchdown, Roncalli didn’t run a play in its own half of the field for the rest of the first half, starting four possessions in Shortridge territory and scoring on all of them.
While the Royals substituted liberally in the second half with the game decided, the effort from the reserves never dropped, something Quintana was pleased to see as Roncalli advanced to face Crispus Attucks in the sectional semifinal.
“We talked all week about respect, and Shortridge deserves our respect,” Quintana said. “Our respect to them was to give them the best Roncalli football team that they could see. We’ve got a lot of respect for their players, coaches and their school. It was good to play against them, and now we’re on to the next week.”
