The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Illini West Chargers traveled to the state capital last Thursday night and came away with a hard-fought 12 – 7 win over the Tuscola Warriors at Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin’s Ken Leonard Field. The neutral site contest between the evenly matched 5 – 3 teams was up for grabs until the games’ final seconds, but the Chargers eventually prevailed for their 6th win in a row.
The two teams traded possessions throughout a rainy and windy first period. Although Tuscola’s offense penetrated deep into Chargers territory in that first quarter, IW’s defense came up with big stops when it mattered most. This has been a real contributing factor during their recent six-game surge.
Finally, after the Chargers’ defense forced the Warriors to punt after their first possession of the 2nd quarter reached midfield, the Chargers’ offense took over deep in their own territory. A big 3rd down run by junior halfback Isaiah Knotts got the Chargers out from the shadow of their own goalpost and gave them a much needed first down at their own 24-yard line.
Two days later senior halfback Nick Johnson made the big play that the Charger offense has lived on repeatedly over the last half-dozen games. Johnson took a hand-off from junior QB Ethan Carlisle over the left side of the Charger offensive line and found a hold.
Using good blocks from tight end Roan Jackson, wingback Max Kinnamon, and tackle Isaiah Geissler at the point of attack, and good lead blocks from pulling guard Carson Purdy and pulling tackle Shawn Watkins, Johnson found a crease in Tuscola’s defense. The senior did not hesitate, and 76 yards later found himself alone in the north end zone for the game’s first score. IW now led 6 – 0 four minutes into the 2nd quarter.
The two teams traded multiple possessions for the rest of the half, but neither was able to mount a scoring drive. A big interception and return by Charger senior outside linebacker Brady Blanton stopped a late Warrier scoring threat and sent the teams to the halftime break with the Chargers still clinging to their 6 – 0 lead.
The two teams would exchange multiple possessions and punts during the third quarter, as neither made a significant threat to score. This would change early in the 4th quarter when a Warrior miscue set the Chargers up for a 2nd scoring opportunity.
This time it would be a fumble by the Tuscola QB on an errant shotgun snap that set the wheels in motion for the second Charger touchdown. As the ball went by the Warrior QB, Nick Johnson raced in and scooped up the errant center snap without breaking stride. Johnson would then race 45 yards down inside the Tuscola 10-yard line to set up a great opportunity for the Charger offense.
Two plays later, Johnson would take the ball in from 6 yards out and push the Charger advantage to 12 – 0. Unfortunately, the Warrior defense would again thwart the IW conversion attempt after the TD.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, the Warriors would respond to the challenge by driving 60 yards in 10 plays for a score of their own. Tuscola also converted their PAT kick to close the margin even further to a 12 – 7 IW advantage with 4:11 left in the game.
The Warriors elected to kick deep since they still had all 3 of their timeouts and a great kicker who would prevent the Chargers from getting a return. The Chargers’ offense set up on their own 20 and needed to get something going to secure a win.
A pivotal third down conversion on a pass from Carlisle to senior flanker Tre Neiderman gave the Chargers a huge first down that would force Tuscola to burn it’s timeouts and set up the next big play opportunity. This time Carlisle would call his own number and his 39-yard run through the middle of the Warrior defense set in motion the beginning of the end for Tuscola.
The Chargers would eventually end up turning the ball over to the Warriors on downs, but now Tuscola was faced with having to attempt to go 60 yards in only 20 seconds, with no timeouts. The Warriors were unable to climb that hill, and time eventually ran out on the Warriors, thus securing a 12-7 Charger win.
The Charger offense found the going very tough against a strong Tuscola defense but were able to gain 211 total yards of offense in this game, The IW ground attack picked up 173 total yards rushing on 38 rushing attempts. Johnson was the workhorse, as he led the way with 114 yards on 17 carries to pace the Charger offensive attack. Carlisle added 44 tough yards on 16 attempts, Knotts picked up 10 yards on 4 rush attempts, and Kinnamon had a single carry for 5 yards.
Carlisle didn’t throw a lot in this game but did hit successfully on 5 of his 7 pass attempts for 38 yards. Neiderman had a pair of catches for 23 yards, while Johnson had 3 catches for 15 yards.
The Charger defensive effort was pretty much bend but don’t break in this game and the team repeatedly came up with big stops when needed most. Tuscola’s offense did a good job of controlling the time of possession, but the Charger defense kept them out of the end zone all but for that single late 4th quarter score.
The IW defensive effort was keyed by the play of senior linebackers Johnson and Justin Baxter, who led the team with 12 and 10 total tackles, respectively. Senior defensive end Roan Jackson continued his stellar play with 8 tackles, including one big tackle for loss.
Senior defensive tackle Shawn Watkins and senior outside linebacker Brady Blanton totaled 6 tackles apiece, junior linebacker Isaiah Knotts had 5 tackles, before he was forced to the sideline with a leg injury.
Senior safety Kinnamon had 4 total tackles, while senior cornerback Khile Stonger accounted for 3 stops. Seniors Neiderman and Jadyn Combites and juniors Carlisle and Izik Jones finished with 2 tackles each.
The Chargers will now enter the postseason riding a 6-game win streak and hoping to make the most of the program’s first IHSA play-off appearance since the 2018 season. The Chargers will face 8-1 Chicago Christian Academy, which is located in the Chicago suburb of Palos Heights. The Chargers and Knights are scheduled to play in Palos Heights this Saturday evening. The kick-off for this 1st round play-off game is slated for 5:00pm.