And the Battle of the Spartans Goes to Simley

 Thursday afternoon's Class AAAA semifinal game was a Battle of the Spartans and came down to Reid Remackel's field goal with 5:22 left that led Simley to a 17-16 win over Rocori at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  

Simley's running back tandem of La'tayvion McCoy and Gavin Nelson helped control the clock on their opening drive lasting 6:15.  Nothing would come of it as they lost the ball on downs.  The good news for Simley was that McCoy would reach the end zone on a three yard run four seconds into the second quarter.  Rocori would take the lead when Jack Spanier's pass deflected on Simley's Dez Smith and into the hands of Gabe Johnson for a 22 yard touchdown.  Simley would regain the lead as Caden Renslow passed to David Gogins and he ran with the speed of the nearby light rail trains into the end zone for a 69 yard touchdown.  Rocori would wrap up the first half scoring as Spanier lined up in the shotgun and bulged through an opening in the line for a four yard touchdown and Rocori led at the half 16-14. 

Nobody would advance the numerals on the giant US Bank Stadium scoreboard in the third quarter.  There would be good news for Simley in the fourth quarter as they were faced with fourth and goal at the Rocori 16 yard line.  Head coach Chris Mensen brought in Remackel to attempt a field goal.  His kick barely went over the crossbar to put Simley ahead.  Would the red and blue clad Simley fans head back to Inver Grove Heights happy?  They would when Daniel Martin sacked Spanier and Simley got the ball back on downs with 3:26 to go.  They would get to the Rocori five yard line before Renslow took a couple of kneels and that would be the game.  

Gavin Nelson would lead Simley with 32 carries for 167 yards.  The defense would prevail, holding Rocori to 123 yards of total offense.  Spanier completed nine of 16 passes for 78 yards.  

Simley improved their record to 11-1 and will advance to the Class AAAA championship game against the Hutchinson-Zimmerman winner on Friday, December 2 at 4 PM at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.  Rocori wrapped up their season with a record of 9-3.