MANKATO — Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
Mankato West football closed its regular season in dominating fashion, earning a 61-0 win over Rochester John Marshall Wednesday at Todnem Field.
The Scarlets close the season at 3-5.
“We dominated the line of scrimmage as we should have. We ran the football well, and we stayed healthy. That was the goal for tonight,” Scarlets head coach JJ Helget said. “This game, on both sides, doesn’t really mean much of anything. Both teams are pretty much seeded in their section. We just had to come out, get this win and get a little momentum.”
The Rockets (1-7) opted to sit a multitude of regular starters with their seeding in sectionals secured. West, in its final home game of the season, opted not to.
And it showed.
Senior tailback Trevor Sheldrup needed 2:49 to find the back of the endzone. He went on to score three more times in the first half.
Senior quarterback Charlie Bobholz connected with sophomore Evan Senske for a passing touchdown one play after senior Laren Kelly recovered a John Marshall fumble. Bobhlz also connected with senior Ben O’Neil for a 34-yard strike.
By the time the horn sounded for halftime John Marshall racked up -2 yards rushing and 61 yards passing with 39 yards coming off a screen pass.
West also had a 41-0 lead and never looked back with a majority of the starters sitting for the entire second half and the remaining sitting out for a good chunk of the final 12 minutes.
“Realistically, I probably could have pulled them sooner,” Helget admitted. “But this was our seniors last night at Todnem Field, last time playing at home. I didn’t want to take that away from them.”
Sheldrup finished with 157 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Bobholz had 104 passing yards and two touchdowns.
West outgained John Marshall 468-101. The Rockets finished with -12 rushing yards to the Scarlets’ 364.
“We came out and did what we needed to do,” Helget said. “All we asked the guys to do was just execute, and they executed.”
Now the Scarlets shift their attention to the postseason.
“Playoff football is everything. You either win or go home,” Sheldrup said. “Every single day we come with the intensity that we’re going to win and we’re going to send people home, because our goal ultimately is to get to state.”