Roncalli’s unforgiving regular-season schedule will ultimately pay dividends, if it hasn’t already.
The Royals welcomed Cincinnati La Salle on Friday, and, while the Royals put forth an admirable fight by doing plenty of things well, they came up short on the scoreboard, 28-17.
“We just had some missed plays in the second half. Those are the things we’ll go look at on film,” first-year Roncalli coach Sam Otley said after watching his team drop to 3-3. “There’s a lot of good. It was definitely a good learning experience for our kids.”
The teams were tied at halftime, 14-14, but La Salle performed better the final two quarters to pick up the road win.
Zach Dozier carried the ball 10 times for 85 yards and a touchdown for the Royals, while Henry Adams added 77 yards on 16 attempts. Quarterback Collin Ash completed 9 of 17 pass attempts for 119 yards and a score, that being a 47-yarder to Drew Nelson.
Rudy Schoettle made five catches for 48 yards for the Royals.
Things don’t get easier for Roncalli, which plays bitter rival Cathedral in Week 8 at Butler Bowl.
“We need to be able to play high-competition teams. I like to play up, and you have to have a mentally tough group,” Otley said. “It’s lesson after lesson. We’ll find a point where those plays happen.”
