ROCHELLE — It took less than 15 seconds for the Hubs varsity football team to jump on LaSalle-Peru when Rochelle hosted the Cavaliers for its Northern Illinois Big 12 West finale Friday evening.

Junior Eddie Villalobos returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to give Rochelle an early lead, and the Hubs stifled the LaSalle-Peru offense all night long, holding the Cavaliers to 35 yards of total offense en route to a 38-0 victory. Rochelle (5-3, 3-1 NIB-12 West) receives at-large playoff status with the win, and the Hubs can clinch an automatic playoff berth if they top Sycamore at home next week.

“We’ve been talking all week about getting a kick return, and we haven’t had many big holes to hit, but I saw a big hole tonight and I hit it,” Villalobos said. “It felt good… We’re going to have a good week of practice and we’re going to watch a lot of film. Sycamore is a tough team, and even if we’re at home, they’re going to play their game, so we have to be smart.”

Rochelle forced LaSalle-Peru to punt on its opening possession, and the Hubs responded with an 11-play, 54-yard scoring drive. Rochelle faced a fourth-and-13 situation, but senior quarterback Noah Mershon connected with senior wingback Ehren Metzger on a 19-yard touchdown pass to help give Rochelle a 14-0 lead with 5:29 left in the first quarter.

Another LaSalle-Peru punt preceded an interception by Jakob Kupperschmid, who gave the Cavaliers possession at the LaSalle-Peru 24-yard line. The Cavaliers gave the ball right back though, with Rochelle junior James Hart recovering a fumble by LaSalle-Peru quarterback Tyler Martyn.

“They got us last year,” said Hart, who was one of many Rochelle players looking to avenge a 20-6 loss to LaSalle-Peru last season. “They came out of nowhere so it felt good to get some revenge on them. I think we just picked up the intensity, and it felt good to rebound from last week’s loss against Sterling.”

Martyn’s fumble led to a 10-yard touchdown run by Rochelle junior tailback Brandon Johnson, and Johnson scored on a 3-yard rush during Rochelle’s next possession to give the Hubs a 28-0 lead with 1:00 remaining in the first half. Looking for one more strike to end the second quarter, the Rochelle defense forced yet another LaSalle-Peru punt, and Mershon threw a 30-yard pass to Metzger down the right sideline, setting up a 34-yard field goal by Villalobos as time expired.

“It was nerve-racking because I missed my first PAT,” Villalobos said. “I don’t miss many of those, but coming back and redeeming myself felt good.”

Kupperschmid intercepted Mershon again in the third quarter, but the LaSalle-Peru offense simply had no answers for the Rochelle defense. The Cavaliers punted after the Kupperschmid interception, and the Hubs completed a 47-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Alex Harvey.

LaSalle-Peru punted seven times in the game, recording only one first down while accumulating nearly as many penalty yards (31) as rushing yards (37). The Cavaliers completed just one pass Friday evening for a 2-yard loss.

“We prepared very well during the week and they didn’t have many different passing routes,” senior cornerback Sam Johnson said. “We were pretty prepared for them. It feels really good to win and we’ll go get Sycamore next week.”

Rochelle chewed up nearly all of the time in the fourth quarter, with senior Cody Thompson piling up 35 rushing yards on seven carries. Juniors Greg Ricketts and Louie Mancinas combined for 23 rushing yards over the final 12 minutes, while juniors Andrew Johnson and Dylan Robinson each took one carry out of the backfield.