A little more than an hour before the season-opener against Hudson (Wis.), Nick Rooney stood outside of Minnetonka High School, spinning a football on his finger. A reporter approached, taking a photo of Rooney in full uniform

“You taking pictures?” Rooney asked. “Great. What pose do you want?”

Clearly, the Skippers starting quarterback was overflowing with confidence.

Which is justifiable, considering his performance in the Skippers’ 43-23 rout. Rooney completed 12 of 15 passes for 208 yards, including a pair of beautifully thrown touchdown passes of 58 and 27 yards. He also ran for two touchdowns, spearheading a Minnetonka offense that did just about anything it wanted to do.

“I’m not surprised by that at all,” said Minnetonka coach Dave Nelson. “He’s got a great arm, he’s a great leader. The kids love to play with him. He’s confident in a good way.”

The game was a rout from the very beginning. Minnetonka cornerback Ben Hersman picked off a tipped ball on the very first play from scrimmage, setting the Skippers up on the Hudson 22-yard line. It took them all of five plays to score, with Rooney sneaking over from a yard out for a 7-0 lead.

“That was huge,” said Rooney. ”It’s a complete momentum change. It ended up winning us the game right there.”

Close, but there was a little more to it. On their next possession, Rooney hit receiver Mitch Felknor in stride for a 58-yard touchdown. Late in the first quarter, he side-stepped a strong rush up the middle, rolled to his right and threw a 27-yard dart to Felknor, who was relaxing in an empty portion of the end zone.

“I’ve never had a quarterback with an arm like his,” Nelson said.

Minnetonka took a 29-0 lead midway through the second quarter, then gave half of it back, courtesy of a couple of breakdowns on kick-coverage teams. Hudson’s Miles Lewis took a kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown and Cal Johnson returned a punt 44 yards to the Minnetonka 26, setting up a short scoring run by Max Gierke.

The quick rally did nothing to faze Rooney, who promptly led Minnetonka on its longest scoring drive of the game, a nine-play affair the ended in a three-yard burst by backup running back Vance Barnes, who was filling in for injured starter Ian Cote. Cote sat out the final three quarters of the game with an undisclosed leg injury.

“Cote’s a stud, so it was a tough loss, but we saw what Vance can do last year,” Rooney said. “I wasn’t worried.”

Minnetonka put the game on ice with its first possession of the second half. Rooney completed 3-of-3 passes on the drive for 47 yards, but used his legs to power in on his second one-yard touchdown run of the game.

Hudson scored nine points in the final quarter-and-a-half – a safety and a touchdown. Insignificant to the final outcome but, paired with the problems on special teams, it gave Nelson a reason to temper his enthusiasm.

“There are some things to correct,” he said. “Overall, it was a good first game for us. But we will be doing some coaching on Monday.”

The night belonged to Rooney, however. Determined to establish himself as one of the metro’s top quarterbacks, he cited off-season preparation and an unwavering belief in himself for Friday’s successful outing.

“I think, personally, I did okay,” he said. “I missed some throws I should have made, but I’ve had a whole summer to get ready. I’m pretty sure of myself. I always have been. I’m not afraid of anybody.”