While it was far from a masterpiece, Aberdeen Roncalli found more than enough strokes to put the finishing touches on its fourth consecutive football win Friday night.

Fueled by a defense that caused four turnovers and produced two touchdowns, the Cavaliers rolled to a 27-0 Northeast Conference victory over Webster at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

“We told our guys, we’re going to win football games with our defense,” said Roncalli coach Billy Young. “Our offense is going to be a contributing factor to that, but you can’t complain about 0 points and two defensive scores.”

It was Roncalli’s defense that set the tone early. After surrendering a 41-yard run on Webster’s third play from scrimmage, the Cavaliers buckled down and forced a fumble that Aiden Fisher recovered to halt the drive. The Bearcats never mounted a sustained drive the rest of the contest.

Roncalli bottled up the middle of the field and defended the perimeter as well. Noah Kramer had a couple of one-on-one tackles in space that prevened any more big plays from the Webster offense.

“We knew we were going to have to swarm to the football, 11 hats there every play, that was kind of the motto going in,” Kramer said. “Every play just take it to them, don’t quit until that whistle blows.”

The senior said he works on those types of tackles in space every day in practice.

“We work tackling every single day,” Kramer said. “I mean I should have it down to a science.”

Roncalli received all the offense it needed when Fisher tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brody Weinmeister in the opening quarter. The Cavaliers added a defensive TD in the second quarter when lineman Carter Samson intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone for a score.

Roncalli tacked on two late scores in the fourth quarter, the first on a 27-yard run by Zane Backous.

“I give props to the linemen,” Backous said. “It just opened like the Red Sea. It was open, I had to make one guy miss.”

James Behan added another defensive touchdown with a 30-yard pass interception return.

Roncalli featured a multi-faceted offense having three members rush for at least 48 yards, and five players catch passes for at least 17 yards receiving.

“We’ve got weapons all over the place that can all do damage with the football in their hands,” Backous said. “I mean, why not use them? Why not make defenses prepare for 5-6 guys instead of 2 or 3? It just makes sense.”

While Roncalli made more than enough plays to secure another victory, it was far from perfect. The Cavaliers had six penalties and would have had many more if not for timeouts to prevent flags from being thrown.

“We’re not going to complain about the win for sure, but I made the comment several times to coaches in the game, this is just sloppy football. I think we had to burn four or maybe five timeouts for just procedure stuff, just to make sure we didn’t have too many people on the field,” Young said. “It just wasn’t something that we’re used to doing. I don’t know where it came from, but we need to get it out of our system now, because if we don’t it’s going to come back to bite us.”

The Cavaliers, 4-1 on the season, have two tough games coming up back-to-back, traveling to Groton next week before hosting Class 11A Milbank the following week.

Roncalli’s immediate focus is on Groton, a game that always features plenty of emotion and intensity.

“Anytime we play Groton we expect a good game,” Young said. “It’s a rivalry game.”

Webster (1-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen Roncalli (4-1) 6-8 0 13 – 27

First Quarter

AR – Brody Weinmeister 4 pass from Aiden Fisher (kick failed), 5:29.

Second Quarter

AR – Carter Samsen intercepted pass in end zone (Weinmeister run), 2:56.

Fourth Quarter

AR – Zane Backous 27 run (kick failed), 5:26.

AR – James Behan 30 pass interception return (Fisher kick), 3:42.

OFFENSE: Webster, rushing 31-112 (Gavin Witt 14-80, Henry Witt 3-11, Gage Baumgarn 2-11, Isaac Nelson 6-9), passing 7-16-2 for 31 (Ian Lesnar 7-16-2 for 31), receiving (Jeron McCreary 2-20, Nelson 2-12), first downs 6; Aberdeen Roncalli, rushing 31-201 (Backous 11-80, Weinmeister 6-62, Fisher 10-48, Kaden Larson 3-13), passing 12-25-0 for 127 (Fisher 12-24-0 for 127), receiving (Behan 2-34, Weinmeister 2-31, Noah Kramer 2-25, Jett Johnson 2-20, Backous 4-17), first downs 13.

DEFENSE: Webster, Matthew Mount 9 tackles, McCreary 7 tackles, G. Witt 6 tackles, Tate Mammenga 5 tackles, Trace Shoemaker 4 tackles, Michael Dorsett 4 tackles; Aberdeen Roncalli, Jean Anthony Thomas 8 tackles, 6 tackles and 1 fumble recovery, Kramer 5 tackles, Will Haskell 1 fumble recovery, Samsen 1 interception, Fisher 1 fumble recovery, Behan 1 interception.