FOXBOROUGH — Every high school athlete dreams of a chance to be on the biggest stage, competing for a chance to bring home a state championship. Saturday night at Gillette stadium, Wes Rockett and the St. John’s Prep football team got that chance- and the senior wide receiver helped his Eagles make the most of it.
Rockett totaled 189 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches, leading St. John’s to a 40-22 win over Catholic Memorial in the Division 1 Super Bowl.
“It’s really like a dream,” Rockett, a Marblehead native, said. “There’s no other way to put it. You dream about this forever. I watched my brother do it in 2012 and I have just dreamt about it my entire life to have this feeling at Gillette where Tom Brady plays, where I watch every Sunday.”
Throughout the night, Rockett put his abilities on display, but one play that stood above the rest was his second-half touchdown catch that put the Eagles ahead 26-22 late in the third quarter.
In the left corner of the endzone, through what would have been perfect coverage on just about any other receiver, Rockett made a leaping grab in what was the highlight of the game.
“It’s surreal really,” Rockett said. “I mean I’d say it was more like two (touchdowns). That last one I wasn’t even covered but there is no way to describe right now. Like I said it’s a dream and I’ve dreamt of this my entire life.”
Rockett shared the secret to his success.
“I don’t wear my contacts all week during practice,” Rockett said. “It makes it more difficult to see the ball. Then when I put them in on game day, it’s so much easier to see the ball. I give credit to that. My eye doctor does a great job putting them in for me, because I can’t do it so good myself.”
Rockett was also quick to give credit to his teammates, including the offensive line and running backs Trent Tully and Aise Pream.
“The guys just rallied around each other,” Rockett said. “All the injuries this year, people stepped up big and made plays. That’s just the kind of team we were no matter what.
“The o-line stepped up,” Rockett added. “Coach (Brian St. Pierre) at halftime said, ‘boys we need protection, we need to run the protection we have done all year,’ and they stepped up to the task. Trent goes out with an injury and Aise just carried the load. He’s hurt too, he missed three weeks, and it’s just stuff like that. He carries the load for us when Trent can’t do it with that one-two punch.”
Overcoming some injuries and mistakes and coming through the course of the season has helped the Eagles show resiliency during in-game situations. In back-and-forth battle with the Knights Saturday, the Eagles never doubted themselves.
“It’s just the epitome of our team really,” Rockett said. “They take the ball, they won the toss and we were like, ‘OK three-and-out, let’s get the ball and score,’ we did it. We were firing on all cylinders and then we had a few turnovers. I would say the general consensus was, ‘Come on guys that’s not us.’ We just wanted to play our game, do what we have done all year and bounce back and win this game. That’s exactly what we did.”
“It’s surreal really,” Rockett said. “I mean I’d say it was more like two (touchdowns). That last one I wasn’t even covered but there is no way to describe right now. Like I said it’s a dream and I’ve dreamt of this my entire life.”
