Simley's football team took the field Friday to a standing ovation as the public address announcer recognized the 2022 Class 4A state champions.
Simley cruises to high school football victory over Winona
Jerrod Jones, who stands 5-4 and weighs 150, scored four touchdowns for Simley.
September 2, 2023 at 2:22AM
The current Spartans did a convincing impression. Especially junior running back Jerrod Jones.
Simley, despite having only five returning starters from the state championship run, defeated visiting Winona 37-6. Jones ran eight times for 154 yards and contributed four touchdowns. Big numbers for a diminutive player: Jones measures 5-4 and about 150 pounds.
"He's special," Simley coach Chris Mensen said. "He's got that speed you don't see every day. You give that guy a seam and he can take it to the house."
A remarkable night for Jones started with him ripping off a 50-yard scoring run on the game's first drive.
Only 16.2 seconds remained in the first half when junior quarterback Tim Pietsch got the ball to Jones and let him do the rest. Jones turned the short connection into a 29-yard touchdown.
A productive passing game was a welcomed addition to an offense that lost 90% of last season's 3,778 rushing yards to graduation.
But Simley can still hurt opposing defenses on the ground. Jones proved as much by opening the second half with a 76-yard touchdown dash and adding another covering 30 yards. He finished last season as the Spartans' fourth-leading rusher (226 yards).
"I want to give thanks to my big boys up front," Jones said. "Without them, nothing we did on offense would have happened."
A rebuilt offensive line featured just one returning starter, senior Brandon Kropuenske. He competes on the Spartans track and field team with Jones and knows what he does best.
"He's a great athlete," Kropuenske said. "Dude is fast."
Jones ultimately will be part of a running back committee. Playing with an edge Friday made him the backfield's first leading man.
"He wanted it bad in the huddle," Kropuenske said. "He was excited when he got his play called. He wanted to prove himself."
As Jones prepared through the offseason to take a bigger role in the offense, Mensen kept it simple: stay fast.
"When you're fast, you deflect a lot of hits," Mensen said. "JJ isn't going to take a lot of big shots."
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
