Bluejays roll at St. Peter

In an emotional return to the sideline, after a 45-13 blowout victory at St. Peter, Waseca High School head football coach Brad Wendland said he would be lying if he said he hadn't thought about his return to the field after suffering a heart attack during last year's season opener. "I'm very blessed and very lucky to be here," he said. "I'm thankful for a lot of people. I'm not ever gonna forget it."

The Jays rolled in this 2022 season opener, scoring often, beginning in the first two minutes on an Oliver O’Brien quarterback run from 17-yards out, followed by a point-after kick by senior kicker Max Neaves. It was the first of five rushing touchdowns for the senior, who ran for 228 yards on 20 carries. O’Brien, notably, also converted three two-point tries. 

The Saints tried to keep it close, but couldn’t. “I do think this was a good football team we played tonight,” coach Wendland told his players after the game. “They’re solid.” 

The Saints' first drive ended on the Jays' four-yard line after a 4th-and goal-pass was dropped in the end zone. 

Things did not get better from then on for the Saints.

Starting deep inside their own territory after the turnover on downs, the Jays' next drive was methodical. A 14-play march of 94 yards, spanning nearly six minutes, used only one pass play, a third down pass to Junior Laird Keeton for 14 yards. It capped off by a 15-yard run by O’Brien on the first play of the second quarter. 

The Saints answered with one of their only two scores of the night, driving 51 yards on 10 plays, scoring on a 3-yard run by junior running back Cole Filand. A bobbled and missed PAT made the score the closest it got at 15-6. 

Of course the Jays answered the bell, literally and figuratively, as  Saints fans ring a large bell whenever their team scores.

Sophomore Demarius Russell returned the kickoff to the Jays' 38 yard line, where the offense went to work. After a first play fumble was recovered for a 6-yard loss, the Jays converted a key third down and long on another big run from O’Brien, setting them up on the Saints 47-yard line. Seven plays later, O’Brien faked a handoff right, kept the ball for himself, and ran straight through the heart of the defense for a 10-yard touchdown run. The daring Jays called the same play again for the two-point try, this time faking left before O’Brien went right. 

At halftime the score was Jays 23, Saints 6. 

The second half was much the same. Except this time, O’Brien decided to let other Jays score. Senior running back Christian Rodriquez scored the first of Jays' three second-half touchdowns on a 14-yard run. The score capped off a 10-play drive which burned more than five minutes of clock and included a fourth-down conversion by Rodriquez. 

O’Brien scored twice more for the Jays, an 8-yard run with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter and his longest run of the game, a 73-yard scramble up the right sideline with 4:44 to go. 

The Saints, who looked like they had quarterback woes as they tried two different quarterbacks during the game, scored once more, early in the fourth quarter on a Ashton Volk 30-yard reception. 

The only other interesting second-half action came from the fans. On the Saints' side, it sounded as if there were chants for possibly, a different quarterback to play. On the Waseca side, the students section was very loud, colorful (literally in their dress), and a little playful. Fans brought a marker board and wrote different smack talk throughout the game. “Their field, our game,” was the final text on the board. 

A little smack talk also took place as Saints fans and Jays fans began shouting sayings back and fourth in the waning minutes of the game. The Waseca students were a little more creative, however, as Saints fans just copied the, “We believe we just won” chant, before the Jays fans reminded the copycats where the showers were. 

Looking ahead, Coach Wendland reminded players, “It’s fricken Marshall week!” 

The Jays host Marshall in their home opener tonight at 7 p.m.

 

Waseca 45, St. Peter 13

Waseca  - 7    16   8    14 — 45

St. Peter - 0    6     8     7 — 13

First Quarter

WAS – O’Brien 17 rush (Neaves kick)

Second Quarter

WAS — O’Brien 15 run (O’Brien run)

SP — Filand 3 run (kick failed)

WAS — O’Brien 10 run (O’Brien run)

Third Quarter

WAS — Rodriguez 14 run (O’Brien run)

Fourth Quarter

SP — Volk 3 pass from Olson (Bosacker kick)

WAS — O’Brien 8 rush (Neaves kick)

WAS — O’Brien 73 rush (Neaves kick)

                                       WAS          SP

First downs                       19             7

Rushing                         51-416        21-54

Passing                            4-8-0      11-20-0

Passing Yds.                      74          119

Penalties                           5-30        1-5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - WAS: O’Brien 20-228; Rodriguez 19-171; Johnson 4-1; Rupe 1-4; Balderas 2-2; No. 26 1-13; SP: Odland 6-16; Mercado 4-17; Filand 8-16; Walter 1-0; Olson 2-5

Passing - WAS: O’Brien 4-8-0—74; SP: Odland 7-11-0—46; No. 5 1-1-0—9; Olson 3-8-0—66

Receiving - WAS: Keeton 2-38; Thompson 1-8; Rodriguez 2-38; SP: Bosacker 6-76; Moelter 1-9; Mercado 2-9; Filand 1 —3; Volk 1-30