COLD SPRING -- The ROCORI Spartans football team is returning to the section playoff championship game.
The second-seeded Spartans kicked off play in the Section 8-4A Playoffs on Saturday night in Cold Spring, facing off against the third-seeded Grand Rapids Thunderhawks in the section semifinals.
ROCORI cruised past Grand Rapids in front of its home crowd in Cold Spring, with the Spartans taking down the Thunderhawks 30-0 to advance to the section title game next weekend.
With the victory, ROCORI will take on No. 1 Detroit Lakes in the Section 8-4A championship on Friday, Nov. 1 in Alexandria for a chance to head to the state tournament. Detroit Lakes defeated Willmar in the other semifinal game 48-27 on Saturday night in Detroit Lakes.
In the win on Saturday, the Spartans jumped out to a lead early on in the first quarter to grab all momentum right out of the gate.
Jack Steil opened the game up with a 66-yard touchdown run that put ROCORI ahead up 7-0 after the first quarter of action against Grand Rapids. In the second quarter, a Christian Rodriguez field goal pushed the game to 10-0 going into the break in favor of the Spartans.
In the second half, Steil was back at it on the ground for ROCORI, tallying a 22-yard touchdown run that put ROCORI up 17-0. A six-yard touchdown run by Luke Humbert and a pick-six by Michael Warne led the Spartans to a large 30-point win in the semifinal contest.
Steil finished the game with 39 yards passing through the air and 136 yards rushing on the ground with two touchdowns to pace the Spartans offense. Humbert added 36 yards rushing on nine carries, Jayden Philippi had 20 yards rushing on two carries and Andrew Anderson grabbed one catch for 20 yards for ROCORI.
On defense, the Spartans forced the Thunderhawks into four total turnovers in the game, including recording two early fumbles along with two interceptions. Isaac Massmann finished with 8.5 tackles, Humbert had six tackles, Drew Schneider tallied 5.5 tackles and Anderson added five tackles on the defensive end of the ball for ROCORI.
The second-seeded Spartans kicked off play in the Section 8-4A Playoffs on Saturday night in Cold Spring, facing off against the third-seeded Grand Rapids Thunderhawks in the section semifinals.
ROCORI cruised past Grand Rapids in front of its home crowd in Cold Spring, with the Spartans taking down the Thunderhawks 30-0 to advance to the section title game next weekend.
With the victory, ROCORI will take on No. 1 Detroit Lakes in the Section 8-4A championship on Friday, Nov. 1 in Alexandria for a chance to head to the state tournament. Detroit Lakes defeated Willmar in the other semifinal game 48-27 on Saturday night in Detroit Lakes.
In the win on Saturday, the Spartans jumped out to a lead early on in the first quarter to grab all momentum right out of the gate.
Jack Steil opened the game up with a 66-yard touchdown run that put ROCORI ahead up 7-0 after the first quarter of action against Grand Rapids. In the second quarter, a Christian Rodriguez field goal pushed the game to 10-0 going into the break in favor of the Spartans.
In the second half, Steil was back at it on the ground for ROCORI, tallying a 22-yard touchdown run that put ROCORI up 17-0. A six-yard touchdown run by Luke Humbert and a pick-six by Michael Warne led the Spartans to a large 30-point win in the semifinal contest.
Steil finished the game with 39 yards passing through the air and 136 yards rushing on the ground with two touchdowns to pace the Spartans offense. Humbert added 36 yards rushing on nine carries, Jayden Philippi had 20 yards rushing on two carries and Andrew Anderson grabbed one catch for 20 yards for ROCORI.
On defense, the Spartans forced the Thunderhawks into four total turnovers in the game, including recording two early fumbles along with two interceptions. Isaac Massmann finished with 8.5 tackles, Humbert had six tackles, Drew Schneider tallied 5.5 tackles and Anderson added five tackles on the defensive end of the ball for ROCORI.