State-Bound Rock Island Soccer Team Will Go Down In History As Winners
Friday afternoon, the Rock Island High School boys soccer team will strive to even the score against Washington High School and make it to the Illinois state soccer finals. The Rocks previously lost to Washington, then ranked number one in the state, 3-0, but it was a closer game than the score would suggest, and Rocky is on a roll, peaking at just the right time, so they’ve got a good chance to pull off the upset.
This Rocks team has a special place in the heart of Rocky fans, especially former soccer players. This is the first time a Rocky team has ever gone to state, and it’s an amazing accomplishment. Can they win it all? Of course they can. This is a team built on tenacity, tough defense, teamwork and timely scoring, and in soccer, keeping the scores low always gives you a chance to win.
It’s also a team that has a special place in my heart as well.
I started coaching soccer in Rock Island 13 years ago, spending eight seasons over four years coaching park board teams before moving on to coach with Rock Island-based Mid America Premier. There are a number of players who have played for Rock Island (as well as Moline and other schools in the area) who I’ve coached, and my son, Jackson, has been friends with over the years.
A great group of hard-working teens: the Rock Island High School boys soccer team 2025.
Two of those kids in particular are standouts for this Rocky team.
For a long time, Jonas Cortez and Lawson Zulu were like second and third sons to me. Travel soccer involves a lot of journeys around the Midwest, and sometimes parents can’t make it or need a hand with rides. I was always that guy who would help out. My son enjoyed the company, and the kids were always great. Two of those kids who traveled perhaps the most with me and Jackson were Jonas and Lawson, who were really close with Jackson as a kid. The three of them played together on three different travel teams – Mid America Premier, Midwest Elite Dragons and East Moline Silvis Soccer Club – over the span of about five years, so Jackson was really good friends with them, and I got to know them quite well.
Jonas, along with Jackson, were always the tough, tenacious players who were rowdy goofballs off the field, always joking around and laughing about some goofy thing they came up with, whether it was imitating some dance they saw online or coming up with some funny game or trick. Lawson was more quiet and cool, smiling and laughing along with “the J’s,” as they called themselves. Every once in a while, he’d come up with something goofy as well, and crack the boys up, but mostly he was a quiet and contemplative kid, very polite and friendly, who would be amused by their antics. They were, and are, all great kids, and we have a lot of awesome memories of times traveling, playing, and practicing with them.
That’s why Jackson and I have been so happy for their success. It’s been awesome to see them doing so well, and incredibly well deserved for a couple of kids who have worked so hard and played so well together over the years.
From left, Lawson Zulu, Jonas Cortez, and Adam Donaldson, another fellow alum of Mid America Premier travel soccer.
They’ve both had their challenges to overcome, Lawson, in particular, has lost some family members, and that’s been very difficult. But he’s been strong, and gotten through those tough times, and through it all, he’s always been Lawson. Every time we’ve seen him over the years, he’s always been the same kid he always was, friendly, polite, and always humble despite his incredible talent.
Jonas has, in many ways, also remained that same kid, fun and spirited and with that same amazing work ethic, talent, and great sense of humor.
They’re both awesome human beings, hard-working and good-hearted, the kind of people you love to see succeed.
And I’m hoping they continue to succeed Friday with a win, and another this weekend for the state title.
But no matter what the scoreboard reads, Jonas and Lawson, and all of the Rocky players, should be incredibly proud of themselves. They’ve worked hard for years, often overlooked and underrated, and they’ve kept that faith in themselves and each other, and they’ve overcome a lot to get to where they’re at. They deserve all the success they have, and in the end, they’ll be remembered as the only team in Rock Island High School soccer history to get to state. No matter what happens this weekend, they’ll be remembered, and they’ll go down in history as exactly what they are – winners.
Lawson Zulu, Jonas Cortez, and Jackson Leary during their time at Mid America Premier Soccer.
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