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John Marshall roughs up North St. Paul, rolls to victory in home opener

Sep. 7—ROCHESTER — The mission was obvious from the first play from scrimmage Friday night for Jordan Bell and his teammates along the Rochester John Marshall defensive line.

“We were going 100% from the start, we were firing around,” Bell, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior defensive end said. “We knew that we had to set the edge up front, that they were going to come out and, they have a fast quarterback. We knew if we didn’t set that edge, the game wouldn’t go our way.”

Bell and the defensive line did more than set the edge. They blew past the edge and made life difficult for North St. Paul quarterback Elijah Adzimahe and any other Polars players who attempted to carry the ball.

JM’s defensive linemen sacked Adzimahe six times and held the Polars to minus-42 rushing yards in a dominant 41-16 victory.

“We just do our job,” Bell said. “Defense is where we’re at. We make sure that our defense gets its job done, we like to go three-and-out, get our job done and give it 100%.”

Senior Spencer Watkins recorded 2.5 of those sacks, while classmate Bell had two.

“Versatile kid,” JM head coach Kyle Riggott said of Bell. “He’s really, really smart. Takes coaching well. He’s grown a ton as a pass rusher and a defensive end. We had high hopes for him as a tight end and he’s been so pivotal to our defensive line that it’s been hard to tax him on the other side of the ball. …

“I love the kid. Leadership… he was on our leadership panel before he was a captain, and now he’s a captain. It’s just been a process of him becoming a great football player and a great leader.”

JM’s Arsene Lukong added 1.5 sacks, Ty’Shawn Beane had one and senior Ethyn Bertschinger was in on one. Junior TyShawn McReynolds was also a disruptive force in the middle of the line for the Rockets, who are 2-0 for the first time since 2013.

“I think 2-0 is a testament…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/john-marshall-roughs-north-st-171600659.html

Author : Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.

Publish date : 2024-09-07 17:16:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

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