Marmion Academy's Jordan Glasgow, Luke Juriga get NFL shots

Marmion coach Dan Thorpe still remembers the final game of both Jordan Glasgow and Luke Juriga's high school football careers.

In Nov. 2014, a Class 6A first-round matchup against the No. 2 seed DeKalb, Glasgow and Juriga nearly willed the No. 15-seeded Cadets to an upset.

Friday Night Drive editor Eddie Carifio covered that game.

Two Cadets from that contest – Glasgow and Juriga, both 2015 Marmion graduates – now have their own NFL opportunities before them.

Glasgow, a former walk-on at Michigan and brother to two other NFL players, was drafted in the sixth round of the draft last weekend by the Indianapolis Colts.

Juriga, a Western Michigan product, signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

From the 2014 story, the Cadets trailed 21-14 with 3:19 remaining in the contest. Then-Cadets quarterback John Tate, starting in place of usual starter Rusty Joyce, just ran the ball in for a 7-yard score. Marmion attempted an ensuing squib kick that rolled out of bounds, and DeKalb attempted to milk the clock.

On third down, DeKalb's Markeatis Jackson fumbled, and it was recovered by Juriga. Tate was then injured three plays into the next possession, leading to Glasgow's huge moment.

Glasgow, a two-way starter at running back and either on the defensive line or defensive back, was the third-string quarterback.

"We had only repped him on [the previous] Wednesday," Thorpe said.

Glasgow immediately scored from 5-yards out, but the Cadets were called for a delay of game on the two-point conversion. Glasgow was stopped on the re-try.

Marmion recovered its onside kick with under a minute left.

"[Glasgow] throws the bomb, and our running back [Nate Traxler] comes up with it," Thorpe continued. "We just started going Jordan-right, Jordan-left at wildcat."

Cadets kicker Connor Hoeft missed a 34-yard field goal attempt with 3.2 seconds left, and DeKalb prevailed 21-20.

"Extreme competitor," Thorpe said of Glasgow as a high school football player. "He was quiet. He doesn't say a whole lot. In high school, his first love was basketball...he played on some elite travel teams. He would just dominate in basketball because he was so physical. And, then his heart and competitive juices were just outstanding."

"That's the way he was in football," Thorpe continued. "He went full-go in practice. He had tremendous hands and he could catch everything."

The Glasgow family now has three family members in the NFL. Graham Glasgow plays offensive guard for the Denver Broncos; and Ryan Glasgow is a defensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals. All three Glasgows walked-on at Michigan and later earned scholarships.

"My parents worked very hard at their jobs to put us into a good situation to go to a good high school, to go to a great college, to be able to take a walk-on spot at the University of Michigan and being able to help us pay for tuition and not be afraid to go to that type of school both athletically and academically to be able to chase our dreams," said Jordan Glasgow via Colts.com.

"They gave us the opportunity," Glasgow continued. "Both my brothers have capitalized on it and I've capitalized on it. I hope to continue to take the opportunity that they gave me and run with it."

Juriga started in all 52 games for Western Michigan that he appeared in. A right guard for three seasons, Juriga transitioned to center for his senior year. Juriga helped the Broncos to 33 wins during his tenure that included a Mid-American Conference title in 2016 and three bowl appearances.

Juriga's father, Jim, was a fourth-round selection of the Denver Broncos in 1986, where he later started 42 of 44 career games. Jim Juriga also served as an assistant coach on Thorpe's staff.

"Coach [Jim] Bonebrake, our defensive coordinator, in his 30-some years in coaching, said 'He's never seen a high school player so nasty in the game, and then 20 seconds after the game, [be] such a nice person,'" Thorpe said of Juriga.

"Luke, he was always fun because he always like right on the edge," Thorpe continued. "There'd be a pile and all of a sudden 'kaboom' he would just drill somebody that was standing near the pile. He loved to do that. He loved to see how many pancakes he could get in a game, so offensively, he was just brutal...very competitive."