Aberdeen Roncalli opened up its playbook Friday night, and even had success with a play that wasn’t even in the book.

The Cavaliers capped off homecoming with a 39-0 non-conference football victory over Miller-Highmore-Harrold at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

Roncalli started its scoring surge with a play that wasn’t even practiced until the team hit the field for pre-game warmups. Running back Will Haskell took a handoff from quarterback Austin Fisher and then tossed a 4-yard pass to the signal caller for a touchdown late in the opening period.

“Everything was clicking,” said Roncalli coach Billy Young. “There was some new stuff we threw in, including something in pregame.”

Haskell had no idea he would be attempting a pass when he showed up for the contest.

“That pass play from me, we put in right before the football game. … We ran it right in front of them, actually,” Haskell said. “I didn’t even know we were doing it before the game. It worked pretty well.”

The Cavaliers extended their lead with three Fisher touchdown passes in the second quarter: one to Brock Bowman, another to Aiden Hernandez, and a third to Eli Jorgensen.

Haskell then took the opening second-half kickoff and sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown.

“Ian (Kramer) had a good fake,” Haskell said. “It fooled everybody and then I just got out with a bunch of grass and Jean Anthony Thomas in front of me.”

Haskell finished the night with 53 yards rushing and 79 yards receiving in addition to his TD pass and kickoff return.

“I had fun tonight,” Haskell said. “I couldn’t do it without my boys, though. They stepped up.”

Roncalli’s defense also had fun, pitching their second shutout of the season.

“We wanted a clean game, whether we get the shutout or not,” Young said. “A shutout is great, that’s what we were pushing, but we wanted to get a clean game. We didn’t want a lot of mistakes, and we weren’t leaving points on the field.”

Senior lineman Scott Lohman got a chance to celebrate his final homecoming game with a big tackle for loss in the second half.

“I just got off the ball as fast as I could. As D-end, I try to get off the ball before anybody else,” Lohman said. “I saw the guard was fast off the ball, I saw him going for a down block. The tackle was just too slow. He put his hand on my hip, I swiped it away and I made that TFL.”

Lohman knows about the team’s rich defensive history and is proud of to be a part of that.

“It feels great, because in the old locker room they used to paint (the shutouts) on the wall, and now they’ve been keeping track,” Lohman said. “That’s just another one to go on the wall, and I’m part of that history.”

Young was pleased that the reserves were able to keep the Rustlers off the board when they entered the game.

“I was glad to see some of our younger guys get in and able to preserve the shutout,” Young said.

While Miller-Highmore-Harrold was unable to score, they did make some big plays on defense, led by junior Sam Crago, who finished with a game-leading nine tackles.

“It feels great,” Crago said of making plays, “just doing it for my teammates and wanting to give them the best shot they’ve got and just play our game.”

Crago, who also competes in wrestling, golf, and baseball, is coming off shoulder surgery, but it did not slow him down on the field.

Despite not winning a game yet, Crago said the team just needs to keep battling and playing hard.

“You just have to keep your head up, fight through it,” Crago said, “just play for each other.”

Fisher finished with 219 yards passing and added a second-half touchdown throw to Bowman, who had 73 yards receiving.

The Cavaliers will now try to build momentum the second half of the season. Roncalli, 2-3, heads to Mobridge on Friday to take on Mobridge-Pollock, which lost standout back Mack Saxon to a season-ending injury a few weeks ago.

“They’re good no matter what. With or without Mack, they’re a good footbal team,” Young said. “A lot of guys with a lot of experience that have been starting for a few years. It’s going to be tall order going out there next week, but I feel like if we play like we did tonight, we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”

Miller-Highmore-Harrold (0-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen Roncalli (2-3) 6 20 13 0 – 39

First Quarter

AR – Austin Fisher 4 pass from Will Haskell, 4:13.

Second Quarter

AR – Brock Bowman 21 pass from Fisher (Caleb Stoks kick), 11:45.

AR – Aiden Hernandez 17 pass from Fisher (Stoks kick), 2:23.

AR – Eli Jorgensen 5 pass from Fisher, :52.

Third Quarter

AR – Haskell 87 kickoff return, 11:46.

AR – Bowman 28 pass from Fisher (Stoks kick), 7:34.

OFFENSE: Miller-Highmore-Harrold rushing 20-46 (Sam Crago 6-22, Blaten Werdel 5-16, Chase Hurd 7-12), passing 2-7-1 for minus 1, first downs 3; Aberdeen Roncalli rushing 26-143 (Haskell 7-53, Bowman 4-30, A. Fisher 3-28, Asher Keller 3-11, Landon Schaffner 3-9, Ryder Shaving 3-5 Drake Winter 1-5), passing 18-23-0 223 (A. Fisher 17-22-0 for 219, Haskell 1-1-0 for 4), receiving (Haskell 5-79, Bowman 4-73, Creighton Fisher 3-28, Hernandez 2-20, Ian Kramer 2-14, Jorgensen 1-5, A. Fisher 1-4), first downs 18.

DEFENSE: Miller-Highmore-Harrold, Crago 9 tackles, Brecken Anderberg 4 tackles, Luke Norden 4 tackles, Cooper Werdel 3 tackles; Aberdeen Roncalli, Jean Anthony Thomas 5 tackles, Haskell 3 tackles, Shaving 1 interception.