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In the West Central Conference opener for both teams , the visiting Quincy Notre Dame Raiders took home the win with a 24-12 victory over the Illini West Chargers.
The win improves QND's overall record to 3-1, while Illini drops to 2-2 on the season.
The Chargers took an early lead in this one, when they forced a QND punt to end the first Raider's possession, and then marched 68 yards on 15 plays to score the game's first touchdown. That early advantage would be IW's only lead in the contest and it came on a 5-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Kennedy Gooding to junior half-back Joe Adkisson.
The Raiders answered with 17 straight points before the Chargers dented the end zone again in the 3rd quarter. This time IW marched 80 yards in 13 plays to closed the QND lead to 17-12. An 8-yard run by senior running back Kyle Tanner capped this lengthy scoring drive . That TD would be the IW's last offensive salvo as QND's defense kept the Charger's offense frustrated most of this stormy night.
The Charger's accumulated 284 total yards of offense, while producing 241 of those yards on the ground. Tanner was the leading rusher, picking up 85 yards on 16 carries for the Chargers. Adkisson added 64 yards on only 5 attempts , while senior Christian Peacock added 60 yards on on 13 attempts. Conner Artman rushed for 25 yards and Gooding chipped in 7 yards.
Gooding was 3 of 8 passing for 43 yards and 1 interception. Artman had 2 of the catches for 38 yards while Adkisson had the other for 5 yards and the score.
The Charger defense gave up 303 total yards to QND with 246 of the Raider's total coming on the ground on 39 rush attempts. Peacock finished as IW's tackle leader with 10 total tackles, while Aden Trout had 9 from his safety spot and Artman amassed 8 from the cornerback position.
Others on the Chargers tackle chart were Tanner (7 srps), Jensen Corzatt (6), Nick Greenslaugh (5) Allen McCune (4), Brandon Stanuch (4), DeVante Jackson (3), Jace Norman (3), Joe Adkisson (2), Taylor Boston (2) and Wyatt Logan (1).
The Chargers will return to gridiron action this Friday when they travel to Macomb to face the Bombers. The Bombers are vastly improved over last year and come in with a 2-2 record. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m.