Rock Bridge boys soccer climbed to the top Thursday. The Bruins won a district title behind a team that was able to put itself ahead of the individuals on the team.
With an 18-6-3, Rock Bridge proved its a program that’s operating at a championship level, especially after its fourth-place finish in the 2022 state tournament.
“I think this team has been building from the beginning,” Rock Bridge coach Topher Horstman said. “We knew we had a really solid foundation of returners from last year’s Final Four team. Even if they weren’t huge contributors last year, that experience and being with that group was really huge.”
One of the players who embodies that experience is junior Henry Jenks.
Jenks was the star Thursday in Rock Bridge’s Class 4 District 7 championship game against Blue Springs South. He led the Bruins to the state tournament for the second consecutive season.
“We only had two start returning starters, two or three,” Jenks said. “New team, still got it.”
For the second year in a row, Rock Bridge soccer won a district championship. The Bruins blanked Blue Springs South Thursday evening 3-0 to win.
Jenks was the main catalyst behind the win. His two first-half goals allowed the Bruins to coast in the second half with the upper hand.
The Rock Bridge junior helped put the finishing touches on the win with an assist on the third and final goal by Oliver Parsons. Once Jenks established Rock Bridge’s confidence, the Bruins couldn’t be topped.
“Going up early just gave us a comfortable cushion,” Jenks said. “We knew we had it from there.”
The Rock Bridge defense backed up Jenks’ offensive performance. The Bruins never allowed Blue Springs South to build offensive momentum.
When the two teams battled for possession at midfield, Rock Bridge’s midfielders consistently won those scrabbles and applied more pressure to the Jaguars’ defense. Rock Bridge’s 3-0 lead eventually became insurmountable as time became more of a factor in Rock Bridge’s favor.
This was thanks to Jenks, who turned in one of his best games of the season when it mattered the most and there was a championship on the line during a season where he’s turned in plenty of top-notch performances.
This season includes scoring performances by Jenks in CMAC wins over Jefferson City, Smith-Cotton, Hickman and Capital City and Helias as Rock Bridge won the CMAC title. Against Jefferson City and Helias, Jenks scored two goals. Earlier in October, Jenks recorded a hat trick against Marshall.
Jenks will enter the state tournament having scored 23 goals this fall.
Jenks never flinched in the moment Thursday, and this is because the junior has been a part of three straight district championship games and has won two of them.
“At this point we just kind of expect him to get it done,” Horstman said. “He puts himself in the right positions. He’s a relentless worker and he can make teams pay because he’s just such a hard worker.”
Horstman credited Jenks’ versatile offensive abilities as an example of how he puts himself in the right positions, literally.
“He puts himself in good positions and when you put yourself in good positions, you’re going to do good things,” Horstman said. “That’s the kind of thing that Henry can do, he can take a ball and he can dribble a guy and he can take over a game in that single moment. If he has that will and that drive to do it, he can do it.”
Rock Bridge will need a guy like Jenks now more than ever in sectionals.
The Bruins are one more win away from returning to the Final Four; Park Hill South stands in Rock Bridge’s way on Nov. 11. Jenks and the team understand the pressure is there, but they also understand the team has the experience to win.
“It’ll be harder from here on out,” Jenks said. “Each game’s going to get harder and harder.”
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