The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Michael Rodeffer, The Quill
The Macomb Bombers scored a touchdown with just 48 seconds left to tie the Illini West Chargers football team at 28-28 last Friday night. Macomb passed for the 2 point conversion to take the win at 30-28.
Looking at the statistics it would show a very evenly matched team. Each team made 4 touchdown.
Macomb had 337 yards total offense and Illini West had 327 yards total offense.The difference came down to the extra points after touchdowns. Macomb converted three 2-point conversions out of 4 chances. Illini West converted two 2-point conversions out of 4 chances.
Macomb got on the board first midway through the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead.
On Illini West's next possession Illini West's quarterback Nick Manzo completed a 71 yard touchdown pass play to Jacob Carpenter. Manzo hit Gannon Bergmann for the 2 point conversion and the Chargers led 8-6.
With just under 4 minutes to go in the half Manzo connected with Jerick LeMaire for a 31 yard touchdown. Extra point failed and the Chargers lead was 14-6.
Macomb put together a drive and scored on a 19 yard pass play with just 36 seconds left in the first half. Macomb's 2 point conversion was good and score was tied at 14-14.
Illini West took the lead midway through the third quarter on a Manzo pass to Matt McDowell for a 14 yard touchdown. Manzo ran in the 2 point conversion and the Chargers are back on top 22-14.
Macomb bounced right back and scored on a 66 yard pass play at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Macomb passed for the 2 point conversion and score is tied once again at 22-22.
With only 2:27 left in the game, Illini West's Manzo capped off a drive with a 3 yard touchdown run. Illini West could not convert the extra point try but had a 28-22 lead.
Macomb answered back and drove down to the 1 yard line. With just 48 seconds left in the game Macomb scored on a 1 yard run to tie the score at 28-28. Macomb passed for the 2 point conversion and held on for the 30-28 win.
Illini West's quarterback Nick Manzo had 20 completions out of 23 attempts passing, 3 for touchdowns, and 242 passing yards. Macomb intercepted Manzo twice.
Macomb only allowed the Chargers 85 yards rushing on 27 carries. Illini West's Ethan James had 55 yards on 17 carries. Manzo had 22 yards on 8 carries. Ian Bentzinger had 1 carry for 6 yards and Lance Belshaw had 1 carry for 2 yards.
For the Chargers Jacob Carpenter had 6 catches for 98 yards, Jerick LeMaire had 4 catches for 58 yards, Matt McDowell had 4 catches for 54 yards, Gannon Bergman had 3 catches for 15 yards, Ethan James had 2 catches for 12 yards and Max Dittmer had 1 catch for 5 yards.
The Chargers defense was led by Ethan James with 11 solo tackles and 4 assists. Also Max Dittmer had 6 solo tackles and 2 assists. Tanner Freeman had 2 solo tackles and 4 assists. Lance Belshaw had 3 solo tackles and 1 assist and Jacob Carpenter had 2 solo tackles and 1 assist.
Also helping out on the Charger defense was Drew Dooley, Gannon Bergmann, Jorge Espinosa, Ian Bentzinger, Drake Mudd, Jerick LeMaire and Brady Johnson.
After the game Coach Lyle Klein said, "We needed a victory to have any chance of making the playoffs. Give the credit to Macomb they did a really nice job of moving the ball up and down the field. We just made too many mistakes to win this game tonight.
We had a couple of chances to put this game away and we just couldn't get it done. This wasn't our best game and we needed our best with the playoffs on the line."
"I am proud of our guys and how far they have come this season. It is hard to say goodbye to our seniors especially since most have played for us for 4 years. I know they wanted to extend their senior year."