Mayo rolls up nearly 500 yards on the ground
By Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
ALBERT LEA — It took two offensive plays for Rochester Mayo to zap any confidence Albert Lea may have had.
Mayo running back Mario Butler scored the first two times he touched the football and the Spartans rolled to a 60-0 Big Nine Conference victory at Albert Lea.
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The victory is No. 107 for head coach James Miller, who passed Ralph Pucci for the most coaching victories in school history. Miller now has a career mark of 107-33.
"Through the course of the week and practice, we definitely have improved," Miller said. "We knew going in that we would have to work hard for the whole game because we have a tough stretch the next three weeks with Faribault, JM and Mankato East."
Butler played less than two quarters, but scored four touchdowns on just nine carries. He scored on runs of 63, 58, 3 and 89 yards while accumulating 286 total rushing yards.
Mayo’s 493 rushing yards are a single-game school record, while Butler’s total is the fifth-best single-game performance ever by a Mayo running back. He also now has 1,541 career rushing yards, placing him sixth on the school’s all-time list.
Mayo’s defense was equally strong. The Spartans forced three second-quarter turnovers to build a 46-0 lead by halftime. Matt Leisen and Addison Tackmann each intercepted Tigers’ quarterback Logan Ferrie once, and the Spartans recovered a fumble in Albert Lea territory.
Leisen’s interception came at the Spartans’ goal line, halting Albert Lea’s most promising drive of the first half. Three plays later, Butler dashed 89 yards for his final TD of the game.
Micah Johnson added an 8-yard scoring run and Mitch Anderson passed to Alex Benson for a 33-yard score in the second quarter. Charlie Thauwald blocked a punt late in the quarter that an Albert Lea player recovered in the Tigers’ end zone for a safety just before halftime.
Ian Cameron and Aaron Burt added short touchdown runs in the second half to cap the scoring. Burt had 65 yards on 10 carries. The Spartans used 13 ballcarriers in the game, also receiving a strong effort from senior halfback Shawn Palmer (six carries, 44 yards).
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"Aaron and Shawn both ran really hard," Miller said. "We have a slug of good running backs."
Mayo (1-1 overall, 1-0 Big Nine) plays host to Faribault at 7 p.m. next Friday at Mayo Stadium.
MAYO 60, ALBERT LEA 0
Rochester Mayo 23 23 7 7 — 60
Albert Lea 0 0 0 0 — 0
First quarter
MAYO — Mario Butler 63 run (Micah Johnson run)
MAYO — Butler 58 run (Travis Nordhus pass to Addison Tackmann)
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MAYO — Butler 2 run (Tom Alexander kick)
Second quarter
MAYO — Butler 89 run (Alexander kick)
MAYO — Johnson 8 run (Alexander kick)
MAYO — Mitch Anderson 33 pass to Alex Benson (Alexander kick)
MAYO — Safety; Albert Lea recovered blocked punt in own end zone
Third quarter
MAYO — Ian Cameron 3 run (Alexander kick)
Fourth quarter
MAYO — Aaron Burt 1 run (Alexander kick)
MAYO AL
First downs 18 7
Total net yards 543 117
Rushes-yards 48-493 37-113
Passing yards 53 4
Comp-Att-Int 4-6-0 1-8-2
Punts 1-36 4-NA
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 3-30 8-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Mayo, Mario Butler 9-286, Aaron Burt 10-65, Shawn Palmer 6-44, Jordan Ziegler 4-33, Micah Johnson 4-22, Garrett Holloway 4-19, Alex Benson 2-9, Mitch Anderson 2-6, Ian Cameron 2-3, Travis Nordhus 1-21, Josh Orth 1-3, John Juhn 1-0, Ryan Riess 1-(minus-2).
PASSING — Mayo, Mitch Anderson 3-4-0, 51 yards, 1 TD; Travis Nordhus 1-2-0, 2, 0.
RECEIVING — Mayo, Addison Tackmann 2-8, Alex Benson 1-33, Micah Johnson 1-12.
Report compiled by Jason Feldman
