ROCHESTER HILLS >> The Rochester Adams Highlanders defeated the host Rochester Falcons 28-0 in the latest installment of the crosstown rivalry before a packed house Friday night.

“The community support was awesome, seeing so many people here supporting us. The school, the community really came out full-force,” Falcons head coach Erik Vernon said.“It’s so hard because these kids all know each other,” Adams head coach Tony Patritto said. “The rivalry has grown to more of a mutual respect than bitterness from when I first came to Adams. But we know we’re going to get their best. It makes it a real big challenge for us.”

The defenses dominated the first half as neither team could move the ball much. But a blocked punt by Dominic Beccari early in the second quarter gave Adams a short field, setting the Highlanders up at the Rochester 35-yard line to start their drive. Ten plays later, the Highlanders punched it in for a touchdown on a sneak by Ryland Watters.

That set the tone for the rest of the game.

Offensively, Adams found success running the ball, especially with Watters, who finished with 105 yards passing and 66 yards rushing. In addition, he tacked on two more rushing touchdowns, one in each of the third and fourth quarters. Matteo Humbert scored Adams’s other touchdown.

Defensively, the Highlanders made all the big plays. On top of the blocked punt, the Adams defense, anchored by Beccari and Humbert at linebacker, recorded an interception and two sacks, and forced the Falcons to turn the ball over on downs on back-to-back drives in the second half as the Highlanders seemed to consistently swarm the ball.

“Our defensive coaches did a great job, and our kids played hard,” Patritto said. “That’s our philosophy. You’ve got to run to the ball to be successful in this conference. We did a good job, especially in the second (half).” He added that, “When you have moments, you have to make those plays; otherwise, you pay the price. I’m happy for our kids because they made those plays tonight.”

Rochester’s defense was tough from the get go. Led by the play of Jack Lower and Zack Davis, the Falcons forced Adams to go three-and-out on the game’s opening possession and never stopped working hard. However, eventually they wore out against a relentless Adams running game that was also helped out by multiple short fields. Three of the Highlanders’ four touchdown drives started well inside Falcon territory.

“I thought we flew to the ball really well,” Vernon said. “We were on the field way too long. We didn’t get enough first downs on offense to keep our kids fresh; and towards the end they found something that we had a hard time stopping.”

Lower had 14 carries for 48 yards to lead the Rochester offense, but the Falcons could not sustain drives, unable to penetrate further than the Adams 43-yard line.

“I thought we played well. We played with a lot of energy. But we struggled up front for most of the game. We had a couple of drives that were okay. But we just made too many little mistakes,” Vernon said. “We’re learning. We’ll get better. We’ll fix it.”

With the win, Rochester Adams improves to 2-0. The Highlanders host West Bloomfield next week in their home opener, which will also be their first divisional game in the Oakland Activities Association Red Division.

Rochester (1-1) opens OAA White play next week with a road game against Southfield A&T.