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| Ryan Fyke | Courtesy of Christy House Photography |
MAROA -- Anything can happen in a rivalry game, and it did on Saturday at Maroa-Forsyth.
In a game few gave St. Teresa a chance in, the Bulldogs jumped out to a lead, then recovered from a Maroa comeback to take another lead on their way to a 39-36 win.
Class 2A No. 3 Maroa had defeated St. Teresa 43-14 last year, then the teams began this year heading in opposite directions -- Maroa beat Meridian 56-6 last week while St. Teresa lost to Tolono Unity 50-13.
But St. Teresa (1-1) made an immediate statement on offense, scoring on a 76-yard run by Zach Jarrett less than a minute into the game.
"We had a lot of guys really step up and make a lot of big plays for us," St. Teresa coach Tim Brilley said. "We grew up from a tough loss last week and had a good day."
Maroa (1-1), though, didn't make it easy. After falling behind 19-8 to start the game, the Trojans scored on two long Jack Hockaday runs to take a 22-19 lead. Hockaday finished with 283 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
"Hockaday's a good player -- we knew it would be a four-quarter battle," Brilley said.
But as good as Hockaday was on the ground, he struggled passing the ball. He was 6-of-13 for 20 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. One of Hockaday's interceptions was returned for a touchdown by JD Mattingly.
"They out-coached us in every phase of the game," Maroa coach Josh Jostes said. "They dominated us in turnovers and penalties, and those are two of the most important things in the game. You can't beat anyone when you have 140 yards in penalties."
St. Teresa's other three interceptions were from Patrick Althoff, who also threw two touchdown passes on trick plays. He was 2-of-2 passing for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Bulldogs starting quarterback Ryan Fike also threw for two TDs.
The loss broke a 17-game regular-season winning streakfor Maroa, and the 39 points were the most Maroa has given up in a game since its 2010 state title loss to Sterling Newman. It was the most points Maroa had allowed in a regular-season game since Central A&M scored 47 against the Trojans in Week 7 of the 2003 season.
