ROCHELLE — Head coach Riley Hall could feel the emotions of a perfect season pouring out at Helms Park on Saturday afternoon, when the Rochelle Junior Tackle eighth-graders completed their unbeaten 2024 campaign during the Big 14 Conference championship against Dixon.

Joey Chadwick rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Junior Hubs, who ran for four scores and forced one turnover on defense to beat the Junior Dukes 30-12 and clinch the conference title. Rochelle (9-0) took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, where Kyler Rowe recovered a fumble on Dixon’s opening drive before Chadwick ran in a 5-yard touchdown for the game’s first score.

“Every single time the kids showed up to practice, they were focused,” Hall said. “We couldn’t ask for more as coaches and our staff praise these kids all of the time for their maximum effort and their willingness to face challenges and do whatever it takes to win. The growth of these kids from seventh to eighth grade is insane and these are really smart football players. They understand the game and they understand what needs to happen in order to be successful.”

The Junior Hubs extended their lead during the second quarter, where quarterback Riley Smith reached the end zone on a 3-yard touchdown run. Leading 16-6 at halftime, Rochelle took a three-score lead when Nolan Zick emerged for a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Despite a 48-yard touchdown run from the Junior Dukes late in the third quarter, Rochelle iced its championship victory with a 1-yard touchdown run from Chadwick in the fourth quarter.

“The growth we’ve seen this year has been amazing and these kids are going to do a really good job in high school,” Hall said. “Coach [Kyle] Kissack and his staff are going to have a really good time with this group and I know they’re excited. There are some good skill players and some awesome linemen. We couldn’t have asked for more out of this group. We didn’t have a lot of numbers. We started with around 23 kids, but we had a next-man-up mentality.”

Chadwick rushed for 132 yards on 20 carries, while Rowe rushed for 77 yards on 12 carries and Zick added 45 yards on seven carries. Riley Smith broke up two passes and Mason Lopez batted down two balls while adding one sack for the Rochelle defense. Gavyn Foster totaled 4.5 tackles in the win.

The team includes Braxton Bruns, Elijah Good, Mikey Chadwick, Nolan Zick, Kolton Cragin, Riley Smith, Kayl True, Joey Chadwick, Vinny Tornabene, Michael Foster, Joshua Hernandez, Bentley Rohrdanz-Miller, Benjamin Morris, Frankie Hernandez, Charlie Kettleson, Liam Ortiz, Kyler Rowe, Derik Maertz, Maddox Provow, Mason Lopez, Declan McKinney and Gavyn Foster. The team is coached by Riley Hall, Noah Knight, Riley Williams, Jeff Manna, Adrian Smith and Chris Harley.