Rochester football bows to St. Louis Cardinal Ritter in battle of state champions

ROCHESTER — Nebraska commit Parker Jamarion ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and St. Louis Cardinal Ritter knocked off Rochester 28-10 in a nonconference showdown between two defending state champions.

Jamarion's first score came untouched from 73 yards out early in the second quarter following a Jenkins Jayvyn interception. His 12-yard scoring scamper in the fourth helped cement the win.

Cardinal Ritter QB Boyd Carson, an Illinois commit, completed 16 of 21 passing attempts for 256 yards and one TD with one interception. He also ran for 36 yards. The 2-0 Lions, winners of 30 straight games and back-to-back Missouri Class 5 state titles, led 14-7 following Carson's 16-yard TD pass to Miller Dejerrian with 25.3 seconds remaining in the first half.

Dejerrian caught seven passes for 80 yards and one score, while junior Lucas Elihjah had four receptions for 65 yards.

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"It’s great knowing that I’ve got a four-star running back in the backfield and I can give him the ball and he can break one for 60 and 70," Carson said of Jamarion. "We take pride in our playmakers, so it’s always good knowing that I can give the ball to playmakers and they can make plays."

Rochester (1-1) lost starting senior QB Bryan Zulauf due to injury late in the first quarter. Junior QB Tanner Beal entered as the backup and went 6 of 12 for 93 yards, with one TD and one pick. Beal and Kaiden Stout shaved the deficit to 8-7 when they connected on a 75-yard screen pass for a touchdown.

The Rockets won the IHSA Class 4A state title last season.

"I’m proud of the guys," Rochester coach Derek Leonard said. "There’s no moral victories here. It’s at our place and we’ve got to protect that. I’ve got to be better, we’ve got to be better as a whole.

"There’s a lot of positives and I’m really proud of the guys. We were in it and had a chance. We dug too many ditches that we couldn’t get out of."

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Rochester football bows to St. Louis Cardinal Ritter in battle of state champions