ALTON — The Roxana Shells secured a 41-6 victory over the Marquette Explorers on Friday, closing out their regular season with a 6-3 record and a playoff berth.
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Roxana struck first with quarterback Cohen Dugan connecting on a 40-yard touchdown pass to Aiden Stemm at 9:01 in the first quarter. The Shells extended their lead in the second quarter, as Mason Crump scored three rushing touchdowns — a 15-yard run at 11:15, followed by two 3-yard runs at 5:21 and 3:31 before halftime — putting Roxana ahead 27-0 at the break.
In the third quarter, Roxana’s Max Autery added a 15-yard rushing touchdown, increasing the lead to 34-0. Stemm caught his second touchdown pass from Dugan, a 13-yard score, in the fourth quarter. Marquette managed to get on the board late in the game with a 49-yard touchdown run by Jack Rea.
Roxana head coach Wade DeVries reflected on the team’s position heading into the postseason.
“We are 6-3 and tomorrow night we will be 0-0 just like the other 32 teams in 3A playoffs, and if we can clean up a few details, I think we can be hard to beat for somebody,” he said.
Marquette coach Eric Dickerson acknowledged the challenge his team faced against Roxana while highlighting his players’ progress this season.
“Roxana is a good team, they are fast and strong, and we hurt ourselves some," he said. "These seniors have won one game until this year and we are sitting at 5-4 and that is a great accomplishment and it speaks volumes of their character,."
The Explorers finished the regular season with a 5-4 record and will learn tomorrow night in the annual IHSA Football Playoff Pairing Show if they qualify for the postseason.
