GOODHUE — When Jackson O’Reilly saw the field last season, he mainly played defense, contributing to Goodhue’s Class 2A state runner-up finish. This fall as an upperclassman, he’s stood out on both sides of the ball.

Entering Saturday’s game, the junior running back/linebacker led the Wildcats in total tackles (74) and carries (103) and was second on the team in rushing yards (667) behind senior wide receiver/defensive back Owen Roschen.

The No. 2-seeded Wildcats took care of business, defeating No. 6 Randolph 56-12 in the Section 4, Class 2A semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats built a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

In the first half, O’Reilly added 65 yards and two TDs on six carries to his season totals. The Wildcats took a 49-6 lead into halftime.

“Jack started for us as a sophomore last year, and he didn't have as big of a leadership role just because we had Jack Carlson and some other guys around, (like) Luke Roschen,” Goodhue head coach Tony Poncelet said. “But this year we've asked more of him, and he stepped up. He works his butt off in the weight room. He does all the little things right. He's a very coachable kid, and he's having a great season for us.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound O’Reilly finished the day with 78 yards and two TDs on the ground on 10 carries. He added one catch for 28 receiving yards.

It was a rematch of last year’s section final and the Wildcats ended the Rockets’ season for the second consecutive year. Goodhue shut out Randolph 40-0 a year ago for a state berth, before eventually falling to Jackson County Central in the Class 2A championship game.

The Wildcats have shut out the Rockets in two of their last three meetings, picking up a 34-0 win during the regular season on Sept. 11.

“We knew we had to come out and beat these guys because we want to be back in the section finals to three-peat,” O’Reilly said. “We’ve won the (section) the past two years and we want to do it again. Just putting the work in in practice. Our scout team is trying their hardest too. … That just helps the team get better every day, too.”

Goodhue had six different players find the end zone on Saturday. Roschen recorded 61 yards and two TDs on nine carries. Senior running back/linebacker Jay Ryan led the Wildcats in rushing yards with 97 and one TD on nine touches. Ryan’s TD run was the longest of the game, going for 65 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Jackson Lodermeier finished 7-for-9, throwing for 99 yards and a 15-yard TD pass to junior receiver Alex Loos.

On defense, junior running back/defensive back Tim Strauss notched two interceptions, returning the first for a 35-yard touchdown. Strauss was about 4 yards short of a second pick-6 on interception No. 2.

“I think we knew coming in that (Randolph) just came off a big couple of wins to kind of wrap up their season, and it was kind of one where we knew that they were going to come in confident,” Strauss said. “We knew that we just kind of needed to come into the game being ready, communicate a lot, and just be the most physical team on the field.”

The Wildcats have been fighting through injuries and illness, including senior lineman and Division II University of Jamestown commit, Ethan O’Reilly, who missed nearly a month of the season with a serious infection. He played in Saturday’s semifinal, recording eight total tackles.

“He was in the ICU for, I think, six days,” Poncelet said. “He had a few procedures and a drainage thing, and I’m just so glad that he got to come back out and play a little bit today because I just didn't want to see his career end in jeans on the sideline. He's put so much into football. I know he's going on to play in college, but I just love seeing him playing with his teammates again.”

Ethan and Jackson O’Reilly are second cousins, coming from a long line of Goodhue football players. Jackson’s dad, Casey, and older brothers Carsyn and Cayden played for the Wildcats in high school, as did Ethan’s dad, Joseph.

“He was in the hospital, and we all went and saw him,” Jackson O'Reilly said. “We had three nights or something where there were people going every night, and we went up there and sat with him and talked to him for a couple hours. That was good. Kept him entertained for a little bit.”

Jackson O'Reilly also wrestles for the Wildcats and qualified for the state meet in the 172-pound weight class last year. He plans to wrestle again this winter and said the sport helps create better defensive players on the football field.

“Wrestling definitely makes you a better tackler and more physical,” Jackson O'Reilly said. “Most of our linebackers and D-line all wrestle.”

Goodhue has managed on the injury front thanks to its depth.

“On our team, we just have a really good next-man-up mentality,” Strauss said. “With some linemen going out, or Owen took a couple of plays off here and there, it was just like we have enough depth. … We know that everybody is just one play away from getting in there and making a play. So you just have to be ready at all times.”

The Wildcats put up 360 total offensive yards to the Rockets’ 126.

The Wildcats (8-2) advance to the section final for the third straight season. They will face No. 1 Cannon Falls in the section championship game at 7 p.m. next Friday, Nov. 6, at Triton High School in Dodge Center.

The Bombers defeated the Wildcats 36-30 during the regular season on Oct. 9. While walking off the field in Cannon Falls after the loss, Poncelet said he hoped his players would earn another shot at the Bombers come playoff time. Now they have.

Just one game stands between Goodhue and its third consecutive state trip. The Wildcats made the Section 2-4A final last season and the Section 1-1A championship the year before that.

“We play Cannon (Falls) now, and we had a couple guys out that game when we played them a couple weeks ago,” Jackson O'Reilly said. “We’re going to fix some things and just play like a team again, and hopefully have everybody healthy.”

Randolph ends its season with a 3-7 overall record.

GOODHUE 56, RANDOLPH 12

Randolph 0-6-6-0 — 12

Goodhue 21-28-7-0 — 56

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Goodhue — Owen Roschen 1 run (Cristian Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 8:48.

Goodhue — Tim Strauss 35 interception returned for TD (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 7:38.

Goodhue — Alex Loos 15 pass from Jackson Lodermeier (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 3:08.

Second Quarter

Randolph — Judd Wersal 15 run (pass fail), 11:53.

Goodhue — Roschen 36 run (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 7:32.

Goodhue — Jay Ryan 65 run (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 3:51.

Goodhue — Jack O’Reilly 6 run (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 2:58.

Goodhue — O’Reilly 1 run (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 0:26.

Third Quarter

Goodhue — Max Lexvold 3 run (Monjaraz-Mendez kick), 6:28.

Randolph — Maxx Staub 27 pass from Sawyer Gounaikis (run failed), 3:38.

Fourth Quarter

No scoring