By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI

abartolomucci@vindy.com

lowellville

Mineral Ridge running back Decosta Baptiste set the pace for Friday’s win with two touchdowns in the first quarter. He added three more in the third quarter.

Mineral Ridge traveled to Paul Menichi Stadium and beat Lowellville 35-28.

The Rockets (2-2, 0-1 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference) managed to hold their lead for the first half, but were unable to keep their defense strong in the second half.

“We needed to get a stop on defense and we couldn’t get it done,” Lowellville coach Greg Velasquez said. “It hurt these kids tonight which means they care. If they care that’s half the battle — and they do.”

The Rockets’ first touchdown was scored by Achili Minch from an 85-yard kick return 15 seconds into the start of the game. Matt Hvisdak scored with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Minch scored again in the second quarter with an 8-yard run to put the Rockets up 21-13 at the half.

“We started off a little slow, but we’ve been known to start off slow,” Mineral Ridge wide receiver Jarred Miller said. “When we got into halftime, we rallied together and said we have to come out fast and do what we usually do.

“We have to come out and play like a team and have intensity,” Miller said. “That was the main point at halftime — to have intensity.”

Baptiste led the Rams (3-1, 1-0) with 205 rushing yards and scored all five touchdowns — two in the first quarter and three in the third.

“Every single time we are going to give 110 percent,” Baptiste said. ”I could not have done any of the touchdowns without my receivers and without my linemen. My line is so good.”

The Rams are learning how to work together as a team after getting a new coaching staff this season. Miller and Baptiste said this coaching staff is already turning the program around. They said the coaches show how much they care about the team by pushing them not only at games, but during practices.

“We still got some glitches because it’s a whole new staff,” Mineral Ridge coach Steve Wyllie said. “They’re still trying to learn what I like to do.”

Wyllie said the players need to work on their passing. Jacob Lesko had only three passes this game — all of which were intercepted by the Rockets.

Penalties have also been a big issue when it comes to Mineral Ridge’s playing style. They gave up 99 yards off 13 penalties.

“We have to be the most penalized team in the league,” Wyllie said.

Baptiste said Miller was such a key player last year, the opponents are looking for him to get the ball.

This year, Miller has been put as a slot and the coaches have been working to design plays that make the ball go the other way. It makes it hard for the opponents to know where the ball is going.

“We have all the skill players moving around the backfield so it frees a lot of stuff up,” Miller said

The team is learning each other’s strengths and how the coaching staff likes to play. Miller and Baptiste are looking forward to a promising season. They know they have tough games coming up and as long as they come out with the intensity and motivation like they had in the second half, they have a chance to continue winning.

“I see a lot more hard work. I know I’ll be working crazy hard at practice, my line will be working crazy hard at practice,” Baptiste said. “There’s no days off with my team — we’re always there straight after school and we’ll go until its dark if we need to practice.”