The Mayo Spartans will take on their crosstown rivals; the John Marshall Rockets on October 4th at 7:00 P.M. for Homecoming.  The Spartans (3-2) on the season look to bounce back from a tough 58-21 loss to Mankato West, while the Rockets (2-3) are coming off of their second straight win of the season, beating New Prague 33-20. Mayo has not lost to JM since the 2015 season, and the team hopes to keep this streak alive on Friday.

One of the difficulties in realizing this goal involves the fact that Mayo will be without their star wide receiver Ethan Loehrer who suffered a season-ending injury against the Owatonna Huskies. However, Mayo receivers Caden Holcomb and Michael Mankaka stepped up immensely in the game against Mankato West providing game-changing plays and touchdowns. Mayo’s leader on offense is running back Asa Cummings who is capable of taking any play to the house. He explained that the key to beating JM is to “play fast and attack the ball on defense.” He is sure that defense is the key to winning this game, because it will keep their offense off the field. Asa also mentioned that the team “needs to play for each other, this is something we didn’t do against Mankato West and it clearly showed.”

Although Mayo had a tough loss to Mankato West, the Spartans are confident that they can bounce back and come out victorious this Friday. “It is a different week, and the only goal is to come together and be [4-2],” said Cummings. During Saturday’s game at TCO stadium, the Spartans made many mental mistakes and errors, which gave Mankato free yards. Eliminating these mental mistakes will be crucial for Mayo in the game against the JM Rockets. “The atmosphere is crazy, and that’s what sets it apart from every other game” Cummings stated. He went on to say that since  “this game is against the Rockets, [it] means so much more to us.” The Spartans know what it takes to win against JM, and they would love to be able to look back one day and know that they never lost to the Rockets during their high school career.

John Marshall plans to spoil Mayo’s Homecoming and win streak. With the help of offensive leader Trevale Moe; the Rockets plan to give the Spartan defense quite a fight. Asa Cummings is one of the Rockets biggest troubles, as they struggle to find plays to work around him. Cummings stated that, “Trevale is no doubt their best player and can make dynamic plays from any position.” The Mayo defense will need to keep the Rockets off balance to stop the whole team from gaining momentum. Cummings explained that, regarding the Rockets, “when the whole team has momentum, they play very well and are hard to stop.” The Spartans will have a tough match-up this Friday, so it should be a very entertaining game to watch. From offense to defense Mayo will need to give it their all to come out with a win on Homecoming night.