Romeo's Austin Coniglio is met by Ford II defender Ryan Posavetz after catching a pass during the teams' MAC Red Division game Friday night. Source photo by Don Chamberlain

The Bulldogs switched from the MAC White to the Red - the division with the Macomb Area Conference’s biggest schools - this season and opened division play at Ford II on Friday night. After stopping the Falcons after the opening kickoff, Romeo answered with touchdowns on its first three possessions and never looked back in a 36-0 victory.

Though the Bulldogs have competed in the MAC White in recent years, they haven’t been without their share of success in crossover games against Red Division foes, defeating Stevenson in each of the past two seasons and getting a win over Chippewa Valley last year.

“Our kids are trying to show that this is where we want to be and this is where we belong, so obviously it’s good to get that first Red win on the season,” Romeo co-coach Curt Rienas said.

The Bulldogs came out strong against the Falcons, stopping them on downs following the opening kickoff, then marching 60 yards on six plays, capped by senior quarterback Ricky Roth’s 7-yard touchdown run. A Ford penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal line during the extra-point attempt and Romeo opted for the two-point conversion. Backup quarterback Jake Alcini ran into the end zone giving the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead with 7:58 remaining in the first quarter.

Ben Brown sparked the scoring drive with 33 yards on three carries, while Roth ran twice for 14 yards, and also completed a 13-yard pass to Jason Schirmer.

After their defense forced a punt, the Bulldogs needed just one play to extend their lead when Roth completed a pass over the middle to tight end Kyle Maxwell, who ran to the end zone completing a 53-yard touchdown play. Christian Pletta’s extra point put Romeo up 15-0 with 4:34 left in the first.

Romeo showed no signs of letting up on its next series, going 61 yards in nine plays, ending with Roth’s second touchdown run, this one from 12 yards out. Pletta’s PAT put the Bulldogs up 22-0 with 10:06 left in the first half. Roth completed three passes for 24 yards during the drive, while Brown had an 11-yard run.

“Our offense early was clicking,” Romeo co-coach Jason Couch said. “You’ve got somebody that runs the ball as well as Ben Brown, they’ve got to account for him, but then Ricky was able to find the open receivers when needed.”

The Bulldogs, who had good field position throughout the night, got the ball at the Falcon 31 when Matt Distelrath recovered a fumble. After a 17-yard run by Brown, Roth connected with Maxwell for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Pletta added the extra point and Romeo led 29-0 at halftime.

“It just seemed like we couldn’t get a break early,” Ford coach Jay Anthes said. “No excuses, they’re a better football team than we are and we needed a few breaks to try to get a little momentum and we just never could get anything consistently going on either side of the ball.”

Though the Falcons did a better job containing the Romeo offense in the second half, they couldn’t cut into their deficit. The Bulldogs added one more score when Brown ran in from 30 yards out just before the third quarter ended. Pletta’s PAT capped the game’s scoring.

Roth completed 12-of-16 passes for 159 yards. Maxwell made three catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while Austin Coniglio caught two passes for 42 yards.

“(Maxwell) did a great job,” Rienas said. “He had to play a lot of defense tonight as well and he was doing the kickoffs for us.”

Brown led the Bulldogs on the ground with 127 yards on 18 carries. Roth chipped in 34 yards on eight totes.

“He’s a pit bull,” Couch said of Roth. “What we’ve always said is he might not be the biggest but he’ll be the most competitive person you’ll ever meet so we’re very happy.”

Couch added that the Bulldogs gave a stellar performance on defense.

“I think our defense is just fast, I think it’s explosive, it’s just awesome,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to play against it. Curt and Paul Murphy, our defensive coordinator, they do a great job and like I said, those guys are fast out there.”

The win upped Romeo’s record to 2-0 overall heading into their Sept. 12 MAC Red showdown at home against two-time defending Division 1 state champion Dakota.

“We’ll see how they respond after a big win if they can come back and still be emotionally charged but it’s kind of hard not to be ready for Dakota,” Rienas said.

Ford, which fell to 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the division, was led by quarterback Rodney Ambrose, who completed 7-of-11 passes for 49 yards. Running back Nick Rowe gained 37 yards on 7 carries.

“We made some subtle adjustments (at halftime) but still just couldn’t consistently get anything going so it’s frustrating,” Anthes said. “But we’ll be back, we’ll be back. We’ll get better.”