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Big plays, a stiff wind and a deep Rochester team combined to spoil the debut of the Vermilion Ironhawks and their new head coach.
Rochester had both punt and interception returns for touchdowns and kept Vermilion’s offense bottled up in a 58-2 community college football rout at Ely School Stadium.
Other than a first quarter safety that trimmed Rochester’s lead to 7-2, Vermilion had few other highlights as first-year head coach Tyree Johnson had his first game leading the Vermilion program.
Johnson assembled a roster much larger than the one Vermilion had a year ago, with the Ironhawks dressing about 40 players and showing resilience before being worn down by a Rochester team that’s favored in the Minnesota Community Athletic Conference.
The Yellowjackets’ passing game burned Vermilion with quarterbacks Dylan Curry and Joseph Russell combining for 181 yards through the air and three touchdowns, including a 40yard bomb to Cole Thompson.
For half of the game, Vermilion played into a stiff west wind that even blew one punt backward.
That strongly limited the Ironhawk offense, as Vermilion managed only 84 net yards on 62 plays from scrimmage.
Rochester iced things with a 52-yard punt return by Jaylen Williams and a 55-yard interception return by Jackquii Roberts. Both went for scores.
Vermilion also completed only five passes for the day while using two quarterbacks - DaVaunte Lane and Eiyjah Sweet.
Ironhawks running back Salvador Espinosa rushed for 22 yards and receiver Arrie Davis had a 35-yard reception On defense, Vermilion’s Kendall Aguirre and Amari Christie both had seven tackles, with Aguirre recording two sacks.
Connor Reece had six total tackles and Vermilion’s Shaquay Jackson added two sacks.
Vermilion is back in action Saturday, at 1:30 p.m., with a home game against rival Mesabi, which is also 0-1.
