Two Rivers high school football rolls past Minneapolis Washburn behind Drew Altavilla’s three passing touchdowns

Two Rivers football players heard from co-head coaches Bruce Carpenter and Tom Orth in that order after Friday’s 42-17 victory at Minneapolis Washburn.

Carpenter calls the offense for the Warriors. He drew up a double-move dagger one play after the host Millers missed a field-goal try. Orth handles the defense, a unit that provided a well-received touchdown as well.

Both sides of the ball enjoyed highlight plays after slow starts, improving Two Rivers to 6-0 this season.

The Washburn defense tipped a ball from quarterback Drew Altavilla for an interception on Two Rivers’ opening drive. The Millers delighted their homecoming crowd by converting the turnover into a first-quarter touchdown.

A resulting 6-0 lead would not last.

Two Rivers senior Ramzi Rislove ran for a pair of short touchdowns, plays that sandwiched a defensive score — junior QJ Jones’ forced fumble, which was recovered by sophomore Thomas Becken in the end zone.

“He read it, put a good shot on the ball carrier, and we recovered it in the end zone,” Orth said. “So that was a big momentum shift. It gave us a charge. We had talked as a defense all week about improving at the takeaway battle, so it was nice to get a little offense from our defense.”

Jones and Becken served as the focus of needed improvement, Orth said.

“Last week, our ends didn’t play well,” he said. “Credit to them for working hard to clean some things up for us.”

Down 21-6 at halftime, Washburn attempted to start the third quarter fresh. The Millers’ drive stalled, however, and they attempted a field goal that missed the mark.

Sensing an opportunity, Carpenter called for a big play to crush whatever hopes of a comeback remained in the minds of Washburn players. That led to a double move by junior Johnny Laugerman and an 80-yard touchdown pass from Altavilla.

“He’s a talented boy and does a nice job,” Orth said. “He’s a competitor. That early interception he had — you’ve got to flush it and go. You learn. But flush it and go.”

Let it go he did, into Laugerman’s waiting hands.

“I was looking for Johnny the whole way,” Altavilla said. “And he went and made a play.”