Raiders calm Clones
By Michael Gassett — Journal Sports WriterArticle Photos
NICOLLET - In 2005, the Nicollet football team went winless.
Five short seasons later, the Raiders can count themselves as one of the best 9-man teams in the state.
Nicollet advanced to the 9-man state tournament with 34-14 victory over St. Clair in the Section 2 final Friday night.
"We have been through the lows and now we are at the high," senior quarterback Jordan Rudenick said. "This feels awesome."
It will be the first trip to state since 2002 when the Raiders finished as the runner-up.
"It's a great feeling," Nicollet coach Tom Murphy said about making it back to state. "We have a great tradition here and now these kids are adding to it."
Rudenick set the tone early for the Raiders when on the third play from scrimmage, he raced 73 yards up the middle and was brought down at the 1-yard line.
Three plays later he kept it himself and scored on a 1-yard keeper. He kicked the extra point and the Raiders had a 7-0 lead.
The teams traded turnovers and punts on the next few possessions when Nicollet got the ball with 2:55 to play in the opening quarter.
With the ball at the Cyclones' 34, Rudenick connected with Blake Bode for a 33-yard pass as Bode was pushed out of bounds at the last second at the one.
Rudenick again kept it for another 1-yard run with 1:36 to play and Nicollet had a 14-0 lead.
"That was a great spark for us, we needed that," Rudenick said. "We needed that to come out and show them that we mean business here."
The Raiders added to their total late in the half when Rudenick hit Bode for a 3-yard pass with 1:22 to play to make it 21-0. That's the way it went into the half.
The teams traded quick touchdowns to start the second half. Three plays into Nicollet's first possession, Rudenick hit Jamie Fischer for 54-yard touchdown pass to put the Raiders up 28-0.
But three plays later, St. Clair's Jared Day and Caleb Goettl teamed up for a 56-yard touchdown to end the shutout.
Day hit Mitch Stanke for a 43-yard touchdown in the fourth and Nicollet sealed the win when Jared Blackwell recoverd the onside kick and returned it 65-yards for the score and the 34-14 win.
"They had some big strikes and came back and made it close," Murphy said. "The kids hung in there and I am so proud of them."
Rudenick had a career day for the Raiders. He was 24-for-38 passing for 246 yards and he rushed for 113 yards. Matt Renne caught 10 passes and Fischer caught six.
Defensively, Blackwell had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Nick Mans had nine tackles and two interceptions and Dusty Giefer had eight tackles.
Nicollet had 399 total yards of offense. St. Clair had 343 but three plays netted the Cyclones 150 yards.
With the win, Nicollet will face Grand Meadow in the state quarterfinals at noon Nov. 14 in Rochester. Grand Meadow advanced with a 35-7 win over Houston.
