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The Illini West Chargers overcame an early deficit to defeat the visiting Decatur St. Theresa Bulldogs 34 – 15 last Friday night at IW’s Fuzz Berges Field.
After the lengthy bus ride, the Bulldogs struck first with a long TD on their 2nd possession. A successful extra point kick put the Bulldogs up 7 – 0 midway through the first period.
The Chargers continued to struggle through much of the 1st period but managed to keep St. Theresa from adding to their lead. The Chargers finally got on the board with a big play early in the 2nd period.
After forcing a Bulldog stop, the Chargers took over possession at their own 10-yard line. Two plays later, the Charger offense finally found a spark and some life.
IW senior tailback Isaiah Knotts followed good blocks by tight end Tanner Stonger, tackle Isaiah Geissler and guards Chase Yelton and Nathan Chandler to get out on the left edge of the Bulldog defense. A good block by senior running back Izik Jones cleared the last defender and Knotts did the rest by racing 79 yards to the north end zone.
The conversion run failed but now IW seemed to have found the weakness in the Bulldog defense and would exploit it throughout the 2nd half. First, however, the Charger defense would have to stop the Bulldog offense from expanding on their 7 – 6 advantage.
The Bulldogs mixed the run and the pass to get deep into Charger territory late in the 2nd quarter. The Charger’s defense came up big by stopping the Bulldog offense from scoring on 5 attempts inside the 6-yard line during the half’s final 30 seconds.
The Chargers came out of the intermission with renewed vigor and confidence. They would score on 3 consecutive drives in the 3rd quarter and would shut down the Bulldog offense that had them on their heels much of the game’s first 24 minutes.
The Chargers first score of the 3rd quarter came via another explosive Knotts run. This time the senior tailback split the middle of the Bulldog defense for a 61-yard touchdown dash. The senior would also add the conversion run to put IW up 14 – 7 with less than a minute gone in the 3rd quarter.
After the Charger defense forced a Bulldog punt on St. Theresa’s next possession, the Charger offense took over from their own 36-yard line. Senior QB Ethan Carlisle found the same hole in the middle of the St. Theresa defense and raced 64 yards on 1st down for another explosive IW touchdown. The conversion failed, but the IW lead was now 20 – 7 with 9:03 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Charger defense responded with another big effort, forcing a Bulldog turnover, when junior IW linebacker Bryson Cruz picked off an errant St. Theresa pass to set up the Charger offense around midfield.
This time the Charger offense needed 5 plays to find the endzone when Carlisle hit sophomore wide receiver Caleb Schreacke for a 28-yard scoring strike. Again, the conversion failed, but IW now led 26 – 7.
St. Theresa finally found their offensive footing again early in the 4th quarter with a nice 15-play scoring drive to score with 8:42 left in the game. The successful conversion pass closed the IW advantage to 26-15.
The Charger offense responded with a 12-play drive of their own to not only score but to take much of the time left in the final quarter. Carlisle picked up the final score with a nice fake and run around left end to go 24 yards to pay dirt.
Senior blocking back Izik Jones added the successful conversion run to set the game’s final score at 34 – 15.
IW had a big offensive night with 459 total yards, with the bulk of that coming on a huge rushing night by the Chargers. The hosts ran for 431 yards on 40 total carries.
Knotts led the way with 212 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 10 carries. The senior’s night was cut short by leg cramps which sidelined him for the final 18 minutes of the game.
Carlisle also topped the century mark rushing with 162 yards on 21 attempts. The senior signal caller also produced a pair of touchdown runs as he took on a greater rushing load with Knotts on the sideline.
Also carrying the ball for IW were sophomore Liam Murphy (4 rushes for 29 yards), sophomore Austen Cramer (2 for 16 yards), sophomore Kinnick Bliss (2 for 8 yards) and Jones (2 for 4 yards).
Carlisle finished the night connecting on 2 passes on 4 attempts. Schreacke had the one big TD grab for 28 yards for the bulk of the Charger passing attack on this night.
A huge share of the credit for the Chargers big rushing night needs to go to their offensive line. Tackles Braxton Vass and Isaiah Geissler, guards Nathan Chandler and Chase Yelton, center Nelson Anderson and tight end Tanner Stonger all did good work on opening up big holes for the Charger ball carriers.
The Charger defense settled down after the first quarter to play very well against a very diverse and explosive St. Theresa offense. Sophomore linebacker Austen Cramer led the way with 10 total stops (solo tackles plus assists), while junior linebacker Jackson Steinkamp finished with 9 total stops.
Senior defensive tackle Chase Yelton finished with 7 total stops, while sophomore defensive back Kinnick Bliss finished with 6. Seniors Izik Jones and Reed Schaefer each finished with 4 stops, while senior Jackson VanFleet, junior Keagan Walker and sophomore Liam Murphy had 3 stops each.
Junior Bryson Cruz had 2 stops plus an interception, while Draiden Heath, Tanner Stonger and Malachi Miller had 1 tackle apiece.
The Chargers will return to the gridiron this Friday night when they travel to Macomb to face the Bombers. Both teams will go into the contest 2 – 0 and looking to gain a leg up on the early conference race and push for a play-off spot. Kick-off is slated for 7:00pm.