Roncalli2007CG

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Center Grove 35, Roncalli 6


Scoring

R -- FG Puntarelli 46

CG -- Dutra 35 run (Wood kick)

CG -- Dutra 5 run (Wood kick)

CG -- Jones 16 run (Wood kick)

R -- FG Puntarelli 48

CG -- Luallen 1 run (Wood kick)

CG -- Dutra 27 run (Wood kick)

RUSHING -- Center Grove: Dutra 17-133, Jones 12-59, Swift 9-42, Luallen 5-14, Adams 1-5. Roncalli: LeMasters 14-37, Angeloff 8-29, Peterman 2-12.

PASSING -- Center Grove: Luallen 1-3-0 13. Roncalli: Banich 3-6-0 31, Trumble 1-2-0 15.

RECEIVING -- Center Grove: Swift 1-13. Roncalli: Hasty 2-25, Miles 1-15.

Dutra confirms role on Trojans
By Michael Pointer michael.pointer@indystar.com For a player with a boatload of individual honors, Elliott Dutra felt like he had a lot to prove Friday night. He was with a new team, on a big stage and trying to show the big numbers he put up at Whiteland the past two years were no fluke. Consider it mission accomplished. Dutra, who transferred to Center Grove from Whiteland over the summer, rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries and the visiting Trojans' defense dominated an inexperienced Roncalli offense en route to a 35-6 victory in a high school football season opener. "Different school, different people, new environment," said Dutra, The Star's South Player of the Year last season. "I was ready to play. So was everyone else, obviously." The 5-10, 188-pound Dutra had plenty of help. Center Grove rushed for 253 yards overall. But Dutra showed he'll likely be the Trojans' featured back, even though they return plenty of experience in the offensive backfield. "He took a lot of shots tonight," Center Grove coach Eric Moore said. "It was good to see. He had not had the intensity of inside running like that and he's going to need it down the course of the road." Defensively, the Trojans got some solid play up front -- which is supposed to be their weakness -- and the expected brilliant play from an experienced, fast group of linebackers. The host Rebels' vaunted toss sweep was stymied all night. The state's sixth-ranked Class 4A team had 23 offensive plays go for no gain or a loss and its quarterbacks were sacked four times. "We threw in some stunts and did some things to stop the toss," said Center Grove junior linebacker Anthony Elias, who had two sacks. "But it was pretty much base defense. We executed and got the job done." Added Moore: "This game here was a nine-month production, to our kids dedicating themselves in the weight room and to getting faster at every position." Roncalli's high points were two long field goals by Aaron Puntarelli, the latter a school-record 48-yarder late in the first half. Beyond that, the Roncalli faithful didn't have much to cheer about. "That's one of the best teams I've seen from Center Grove," Roncalli coach Bruce Scifres said. "They're physical, and they're extremely fast position-by-position. They dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage. "We knew coming in we had to play a great game or we were going to have our hands full. We obviously didn't do that." Roncalli led 3-0 when Dutra took a pitch and went untouched down the right side for a 35-yard touchdown run with 4:58 to go in the first quarter. Two minutes later, the Trojans' Luke Swift returned a punt 41 yards to the Roncalli 5-yard line. Dutra scored up the middle on the next play. Center Grove's Kyle Jones scored on a 16-yard run with 8:55 left in the first half. Quarterback Jordan Luallen scored on a 1-yard run and Dutra finished the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown run with 4:40 left. "No turnovers and we won the field position battle," Moore said. "You do that, you can win a lot of football games. There's guys making a lot of money doing that in the NFL."