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The Illini West Chargers went on the road last Friday night and came away with a 44–20 win over the host South Fulton Rebels. The Chargers win was their first of the season after 3 tough losses. Illini West used a big 24–8 second quarter advantage to pull away in this game and secure the road win.
The Chargers got off to a bit of a slow start, leading only 6–0 after the game’s first quarter, but pulled away in the second period by scoring three touchdowns to take a 30–8 lead into the halftime break. The Chargers would eventually lead 44–14 before a late Rebel score against the reserves that would make the game appear closer than it actually was.
The Chargers opened the game by riding the strong running of senior running back Nick Johnson. After a couple of nice runs by the senior which got the Chargers to near midfield, Johnson would break off for a 51-yard dash to score the game’s opening touchdown to put the Chargers up 6–0 midway through the first quarter.
The Illini West 2nd quarter onslaught would again feature a lot of strong running by Johnson, but junior QB Ethan Carlisle would get the Chargers on the scoreboard for their 2nd touchdown by hitting senior split end Stephen Sparks for a nice pass and catch of 15 yards. The touchdown toss and successful conversion run by senior Tre Neiderman would give IW a 14–0 edge at the 10:20 mark of the 2nd quarter.
The Rebels countered with their only score of the 1st half on a short run midway through the 2nd period, but the Chargers would quietly answer with another Johnson TD dash.
The senior would blast off the right side of the line for a 59-yard TD burst that found the north endzone with 3:23 left in the half. Johnson’s TD run and a successful conversion run by Carlisle would stretch the Charger advantage to 22–8.
The Charger defense would get the ball back for their offense one more time before the halftime break and the Charger offense took advantage of the opportunity by quickly marching the field.
With very little time left, Carlisle rolled to his left, and unable to find a receiver, broke free for an 8-yard touchdown scramble.
The junior QB also added a successful conversion run for the Chargers to take a 30–8 halftime lead.
The Chargers would score one more time in each of the 3rd and 4th quarters. The 3rd quarter score would come on another pass from Carlisle to Sparks as the combination would hook up for a spectacular 36-yard TD connection. Senior Max Kinnamon would add a successful conversion run to push the Illini West edge to 38–8.
The Chargers final TD would come via a 16-yard scoring run by Johnson.
The senior’s 3rd TD run capped a huge night for the Charger running back as he posted 256 yards rushing on 25 carries.
The plan coming into this game was to feature Johnson’s running ability and this performance certainly did that.
The Charger offense would amass 370 yards of total offense in this game with 316 yards on the ground on 38 carries and 54 yards passing on 6 attempts.
In addition to Johnson’s big night, Carlisle had 12 carries for 48 yards. Kinnaman had 1 carry for 6 yards and sophomore QB Bryson Cruz had 2 late runs for 6 yards.
Carlisle connected on 5 of his 6 pass attempts for 54 yards and the 2 touchdowns.
Sparks had 4 catches for 50 yards and both scores, while senior Tre Neiderman had a single grab for 4 yards.
The Charger defense actually had a pretty long night as South Fulton did a pretty good job of ball control in this contest.
Senior nose guard Shawn Watkins led the Charger defensive effort with 13 total tackles (solo tackles plus assists).
Johnson and Carlisle had 6 tackles each from their linebacker spots, while senior defensive end Roan Jackson and senior defensive back Khile Stonger had 5 tackles each.
Senior linebacker Justin Baxger, junior defensive tackles Izik Jones and sophomore linebacker Bryson Cruz each chipped in 4 total tackles. Also on the tackle chart were senior Carter Sanderson (3) tackles, senior Tre Neiderman (3), senior Max Kinnamon (2), senior Brady Blanton (2), senior Coleman Gilpen (2), senior Jadyn Combites (1), junior Kane Burgdorf (1) and sophomore Brandon Allaman (1).
The Chargers will return to action this Saturday afternoon when they travel to Cuba High School for a Prairieland conference game with the winless LVC Miner co-op. The game is scheduled to kick-off at 2:00pm.