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2015 JM Rockets Varsity Football - Section 1AAAAA Champions & State Participants
Proud Finish for the Rockets - Great 2015 Season
Rockets Play at STATE!On Saturday night in the Class AAAAA state football quarterfinals at Lakeville North High School, JM ran into a familiar foe who outdid it in both categories.
No. 1 ranked Mankato West showed an overwhelming ability to run and stop the run en route to ending the Rockets' season, winning 42-20.
It was the second time the Big Southeast District teams met this season. West won the first one in a tussle, 24-14, a game in which JM held a third-quarter lead.
The Rockets got a full dose of star running back Van Neils in that game, but they didn't get a look at the running ability of 210-pound junior quarterback Robert Meidl.
Saturday, fellow 210-pounder Neils and Meidl combined for 306 yards rushing and five touchdowns, all of them on the ground.
While West was doing that, it was denying JM the ability to do what it does best - also run the football. The Rockets who trailed 14-7 at halftime and 21-7 midway through the third quarter, finished with just 89 yards rushing.
But there was one pleasant surprise in the game for JM. The Rockets turned in by far their best passing game of the season, with junior quarterback Jared Juth throwing for an impressive 248 yards and one touchdown.
JM finished its season 8-4, scoring the most points on Mankato West of any team this season. West moved to 11-0.
Once a Rocket, Always a Rocket!
Proud Rocket Family
Rockets Win Section Championship
Defensive stalwart, tough minded, brimming with speed and strength, and lover and producer of the big play. All of that describes the Rochester John Marshall football team.
So does something that the Rockets haven't been able to say since 2004: Section One champions and state bound.
Nothing is sweeter than that last one.
"I knew we had the potential for this when the season started," said a beaming Brady Tuckner, one of the producers of those game-changing plays. "We just had to finish today."
No. 3 seed JM earned the title Saturday night with one of its most dramatic wins in years, using a trio of monstrous plays to rally and knock out No. 4 Northfield 15-12 at JM's John Drews Field.
JM takes an 8-3 record to the state Class AAAAA quarterfinals where it will meet familiar foe and No. 1-ranked Mankato West at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Lakeville North High School.
"Our guys played with a ton of heart," said JM coach Kevin Kirkeby, his hair soaking wet after his players doused him in a post-game celebration.
"This is such a resilient group. They hung in there even when we were down, and our defense kept us in the game. I'm just so satisfied after all of the work our players and our assistant coaches have put in."
Safe to say that nobody has burned more midnight oil than Kirkeby himself in making this JM season reach its potential.
But he's right on about the Rockets being resilient. Never was that more evident than Saturday night.
#FaithintheFamily GO ROCKETS!
