Feldman: Goodhue's run to the Prep Bowl stirs memories of title teams

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Nov. 20—GOODHUE — A deep dive into the box score from 22 years ago isn't necessary.

That game summary turns into comfort food on the third word and doesn't stop until the last.

Ryan. Buck. Thomforde. Voth.

Roschen.

Those names are like a good Minnesota hotdish in Goodhue. They're always there to make things better. And what makes things better in a small town more than a great football team?

Those names are also synonymous with Goodhue sports. And with success.

A new group of Wildcats hope to make their mark on the state on Friday, when Goodhue faces Jackson County Central at 4 p.m. in the Class 2A Prep Bowl, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It's a Goodhue group loaded with names that will be talked about two decades from now, just as the players from the Wildcats' 2003 team are remembered today.

That team — which coined the "G-Force" nickname — was dominant defensively and won the program's first state championship, beating Medford 20-8 at the Metrodome on Nov. 22, 2003.

The Wildcats scored on their first play from scrimmage, when quarterback Brian Buck threw a ball to running back Corey Ryan near the sideline. Ryan twisted his way past one defender, then outran two more to the end zone for a 77-yard touchdown.

G-Force, indeed.

The big, bold headline on the front page of the Post Bulletin Sports section read "GOOD, GOOD, GOOD" on Monday, Nov. 24, 2003. Perhaps it should have read "GOOD, GREAT, GREATEST," but who am I to question my predecessors?

The photo that accompanied that story was of star lineman Luke Meyer, a gentle giant off the field and a hulking menace on it. Meyer had his arms spread wide, helmet in his left hand and an ear-to-ear smile, as he looked joyously at the Goodhue cheering section as if to say "how about this?!"

Full disclosure, a few years later, Meyer was an intern in the Post Bulletin Sports department. To this day, he's a gentle giant (I'm positive he'll appreciate me writing that), but still looks like he could suit up and protect current 'Cats QB Luke Roschen's blind side.

Ryan, the Wildcats' do-it-all star in '03, had 156 total yards in that Prep Bowl, 77 on the ground and 79 receiving yards. He scored all three of their touchdowns and totaled 328 offensive yards and six TDs in Goodhue's two games at the Metrodome that fall.

Goodhue's defense was equally dominant; it didn't allow a point in the first quarter the entire year.

That was the G-Force Era.

That was the Wildcats' first football state championship.

Two years later, they returned to the Prep Bowl and lost by an oh-so-close margin of five points, 21-16, against Springfield.

Two years after that, in 2007, Goodhue was back at the 'Dome and back on top of Class 1A football in Minnesota, beating Adrian thanks to — who could have guessed? — a stellar defense and a guy named Ryan running the football.

The Wildcats won the Prep Bowl that season behind a defense that held Adrian to one score in a 28-7 win, and behind 141 rushing yards and three TDs by Eric Ryan. His backfield mate, Micah Huneke, had a game-high 167 rushing yards and one TD.

Huneke was featured on the front page of the PB Sports section the next day — Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 — stiff-arming an Adrian defender to the ground. The photo said it all: Goodhue had gone from "G-Force" to simply "a force."

Friday will mark Goodhue's first state championship game appearance since that day 18 years ago. A majority of the guys who'll play in this year's Prep Bowl weren't born yet when Goodhue won its title in 2007. Those who were alive were but months or weeks old.

This current version of the Wildcats face as tough of a test as there is in Class 2A football.

Jackson County Central is 12-0, the defending state champion, ranked No. 1, averages a state-best 51.8 points per game, and allows the second-fewest points per game in Class 2A, 9.9, which sits behind only Goodhue's 7.4 average.

To boot, the Huskies are led by the No. 1-ranked player in Minnesota's recruiting Class of 2026. He's quarterback Roman Voss, a University of Minnesota commit who intends to transition to tight end for the Gophers, and who intends to bulldoze every defender who gets in his path.

Voss is protected by a massive offensive line, led by 6-foot-7, 292-pound South Dakota State University commit Weston Rowe.

Yes, the challenge is a daunting one for Goodhue. But, so it was for the 2003 Wildcats. And the 2007 Wildcats.

The 2025 Wildcats have playmakers Luke Roschen, Jack Carlson, Owen Roschen, Hayden Holm, Michael Roschen and more. They have a defense that has surrendered just 89 points in 12 games and has pitched five shutouts. If the game is close, they have another weapon on the sideline, too, kicker Christian Monjaraz-Mendez, who booted the game-winning PAT in overtime in the state quarterfinals, then went 3-for-3 on PAT kicks and connected on a 25-yard field goal in last week's 24-7 state semifinal win against Holdingford.

So maybe — just maybe — in a few days we'll see a Goodhue lineman on the cover of the Post Bulletin Sports section again, arms outstretched, smile on his face, knowing he's forever a state champion.

That thought is far closer to reality than a dream.

Jason Feldman is the Post Bulletin Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfeldman@postbulletin.com.

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