Rensselaer gets incentive to roll

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RENSSELAER -- Maybe all Rensselaer needed was a good old-fashioned wakeup call. Winamac provided that Friday by stuffing the Bombers on their first series and marching down the field to take an early lead.

It was a short-lived lead for the visitors, who didn't force the Bombers to punt again the rest of the night.

"Noll did the same thing last week, went up 7-0 on us," Rensselaer coach Chris Meeks said. "Our kids responded, got this thing tied up and then went on a roll after that."

Behind its prolific five-pronged running attack, Rensselaer rushed for 297 yards in a 55-27 sectional semifinal rout of Winamac, setting up a championship game showdown at arch-rival North Judson next Friday.

"We've got four or five backs we could easily put in there and get the job done," said sophomore Ben Ahler, who rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns and returned an interception for a score. "We even have some JV guys that could probably step up and get the job done."

But it wasn't just the running game. The Bombers also intercepted Winamac quarterback Andrew Malott three times and took advantage of two special teams miscues by the Warriors.

Trailing 14-7, Winamac faced a 4th-and-1 from the Rensselaer 40. But a false start forced the Warriors (6-5) to attempt a punt, and when punter Evan Bonnell went to his knee to receive the low snap, the Bombers (6-5) took over at the Winamac 39.

Two plays later, Ahler broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and rumbled for a 34-yard touchdown.

Another special teams miscue by the Warriors led to another Ahler score less than two minutes later. This time, Bryan Bayly tackled Bonnell for a 23-yard loss at the Winamac 19. Two plays later, Ahler plunged in from 2 yards out with 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

And just like that, the Bombers had built a commanding 27-7 halftime lead.

"They had two messed up snaps that allowed us to pin 'em deep on their side of the field," Ahler said. "That was huge for us. That put us in great field position to score. That pretty much sparked our offense."

From there, the Bombers didn't look back. They took over on downs on the Warriors' first possession of the second half and built their lead to 34-7 on a 2-yard Randy Kaufmann plunge.

Justin Bohannon added a 52-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter, Ahler returned an interception 55 yards at the start of the fourth, and Jacob Smith broke loose for a late 41-yard touchdown run.

"That was my first varsity pick," Ahler said. "I just dropped back in my zone, saw the guy coming over the middle and jumped the route."

Bohannon rushed for a game-high 139 yards and also scored two touchdowns.