The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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    Nicollet

November 7, 2009

Nicollet takes down St. Clair for Section 2 title

Rudenick throws for two TDs, rushes for two more

Tom Lemmermann

NICOLLET — In a game filled with turnovers and big plays, Nicollet defeated St. Clair 34-14 to win the Section 2, 9-man football championship Friday at the Nicollet field.

“It feels amazing,” said Nicollet senior quarterback Jordan Rudenick. “My group has never been (to state).

“We’ve been through the thick and thin of football. The first couple years we were at the bottom but now we’re at the top and it feels amazing.”

Head coach Tom Murphy agreed. “Our kids worked extremely hard. They deserve to be where they are. The hard work paid off.”

Each team committed five turnovers, and the Raiders out-gained St. Clair 399-343 in total yards.

“I thought our secondary played well,” Murphy said. “ We knew they wanted to throw. We wanted the secondary to stay deep and get the linebackers to play back.”

The Nicollet offense got things going early with 69-yard run by Rudenick to the 1-yard line a couple minutes into the game. Rudenick punched it in from a yard away to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead.

Nicollet scored again a short while later when Blake Bode broke through two defenders to turn a short pass play into a 30-yard gain that ended at the 1-yard line. Rudenick ran for another 1-yard touchdown to give the Raiders a 14-0 lead.

Nicollet found the end zone one more time before the half. Jamie Fischer caught a 38-yard pass and a 9-yard pass on consecutive plays before Bode caught a 3-yard scoring pass. After the extra point, Nicollet took a 21-0 lead into halftime.

The Raiders added to their lead early in the third when Fischer took a 54-yard reception into the end zone to make the score 28-0. Fischer finished the game with six catches for 116 yards.

St. Clair answered with a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jared Day to Caleb Goettl and scored again when Mitch Stanke set up his own 49-yard touchdown catch by intercepting a Rudenick pass. That cut the lead to 28-14.

St. Clair followed with an onside kick, which Nicollet’s Jared Blackwell returned 60 yards for the game’s final touchdown.

“We knew they were going to come out tough,” Rudenick said. “It’s always a battle with St. Clair. It’s always really physical and a lot of fun.”

Rudenick was 24 of 38 passing for 246 yards and two touchdowns. He also gained 133 rushing yards and two rushing scores.

Matt Renne caught 10 of those passes for 57 yards. Blackwell had 11 tackles and Nick Mans had nine tackles and two interceptions for the Raiders’ defense.

Nicollet plays Grand Meadow at noon Nov. 14 at Rochester Community and Technical College in the first round of the state tournament. Grand Meadow defeated Houston 35-7.

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