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The Illini West Chargers faced their first road test of the 2025 season and came up short, as they fell to the host Macomb Bombers.
Both teams came in undefeated in this pivotal early season contest, but it would be the Bombers who would keep their record unblemished at 3-0.
The Chargers saw their record drop to 2-1 with the disappointing loss.
The Chargers fell behind early in this game and could find very little positive traction during the game’s first half.
The Chargers got the ball on the opening kick-off and moved in 5 plays to their own 46-yard line.
Faced with a 2nd down and 7 yards to go Charger QB Ethan Carlisle threw a pass wide toward the Bomber sideline.
Unfortunately, the Bomber defender read the play well and jumped in front of the Charger receiver to pick off the pass and quickly returned the errant toss for a Bomber touchdown.
The rest of the half proved just as futile for the Chargers as they couldn’t seem to get out of their own way.
Overall, Illini West would give the ball away 4 times with turnovers and commit 13 penalties in a very sloppy performance against a good team that took advantage of the Charger miscues.
The Bombers were up 20-0 in the 3rd quarter before Illini West eventually got their lone score on a fluke play.
After a Bomber interception of a deep Carlisle pass, the Bomber defender fumbled into the end zone. Charger Isaiah Knotts reacted well and recovered the fumble to give IW its only score of the game.
The fumble recovery by Knotts and a 2nd half decision to commit to a power run game were the lone bright spots for the Chargers on this night.
However, it was too little, too late to overcome the Bombers’ total dominance of the game’s first half.
The Chargers would gain only 45 yards in the 1st half and most of that was negated by their numerous penalties.
The Charger offense was very effective and efficient in the first two weeks of the season but struggled in this contest.
The Chargers would finish with 179 total yards, with 167 on the ground and 12 through the air. Knotts would provide the bulk of that total with 101 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
Also chipping in were Carlisle with 36 yards on 9 rushes, Izik Jones with 2 carries for 17 yards and Austin Cramer with 13 yards via 6 carries.
Carlisle found the going very tough in the passing game as he was only able to complete 2 of 8 passes for 12 yards. Caleb Schreacke and Knotts had the 2 receptions.
The Charger defense was on the field way too much in this contest and the tackle chart reflected that. Knotts and Tanner Stonger were both in double digits for total tackles with 10 and 11 respectively.
Others on the chart and their total tackle involvements (solos plus assists) include Chase Yelton (5), Keagan Walker (5), Reed Schaefer (4), Jackson Steinkamp (3), Bryson Cruz (2), Jackson VanFleet (2), Josiah Sturlic (2), Nelson Anderson (2), Caleb Schreacke (2), Izik Jones (2), Isaiah Geissler (2), Liam Murphy (1), Austin Cramer (1), Deacon Zaehringer (1) and Nathan Chandler (1).
The Chargers will return to action this Friday night back at home at Illini West’s Fuzz Burges Field where they will host the undefeated Farmington Farmers who are ranked 4th in IHSA 2A.
The game will also be the 2025 Homecoming for Illini West and kick-off is slated for 7:00pm