svm-ss4_11112013

The bottom lineOregon 20Aurora Christian 49

Stillman Valley 24Erie-P’town 14

Eastland-P.C. 12Newman 35

Stockton 34Galena 28

Aquin 20Lena-Winslow 48

Momence 21Hall 13

Rockridge 20Mercer County 26

McNamara 12Winnebago 27

Plano 0Geneseo 21

Lutheran 27Rochelle 22

Nazareth 28Sycamore 33

Kaneland 8Joliet Catholic 45

Boylan 17Cary Grove 10

Montini 43Wood. Marian 7

BEYONDREACH

Comets prove to be too much for Wildcatz. Pages FB6-7.

ABOVE: Newman’s Dillan Heffelfinger dives for the pylon during Saturday’s game at Sterling. – Alex T. Paschal/[email protected]

Sauk Valley Sports

@CHeimerman_SVM@LarryBrennan @STyReynolds @DanWoessner @BrianWeidman

Sauk Valley Media playoff EXTRA

saukvalleysports.com

Second Round | November 11, 2013

FB2 November 11, 2013

3A PLAYOFFS | AURORA CHRISTIAN 49, OREGON 20

Rude awakeningBY BRIAN WEIDMAN

[email protected], ext. 551

AURORA – A dream start for the Oregon football team quickly turned into a nightmare against Aurora Christian.

The Hawks opened with a touchdown on their opening possession, only to see the Eagles respond with 49 straight points on their way to a 49-20 vic-tory on Saturday night in a Class 3A second-round playoff game.

“They just have talent everywhere,” Oregon senior fullback/linebacker Sawyer Reynolds said. “We just got outplayed tonight. They’re just better football players, I guess.”

The key to the game for Oregon (6-5) was to chew up yardage and time with a methodical rushing attack. The plan worked to a tee on the game’s opening possession, as the Hawks marched 73 yards in 18 plays, all but one of them on the ground.

The lone pass was a 2-yarder from Tyler Blume to Pierce Dhaese for a touchdown on fourth down, and the Hawks used 9 minutes, 16 seconds of clock.

“That was absolutely ideal,” Oregon coach John Bothe said. “That’s what we envisioned. It was just a great start.”

Once Aurora Christian got its hands on the ball, however, it was a huge problem for the Hawks. The Eagles (8-3) scored on all five of their first-half possessions, and senior

wide receiver Brandon Walgren seemed to be in the middle of everything.

He caught six first-half passes for 179 yards, including TD catches of 45 and 44 yards from junior quarterback Austin Bray. Walgren also threw a 30-yard TD pass to Zach Bosek, and his 44-yard punt return set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Legend Smith.

“We knew coming into this week we were going to pass a lot, and I was excited for this game knowing that,” Walgren said. “Austin had a great game passing, and he put that ball on me when he

needed to.”“I always thought Bran-

don could be a great foot-ball player when he was a freshman,” AC coach Don Beebe said, “but I wasn’t sure if he had that moxie and that big-play attitude. He had big-play ability, but these last few games, he’s really taken things over.”

Aurora Christian, which is seeking its third consec-utive Class 3A state cham-pionship, quickly took care of business in the second half. Smith took a screen pass 56 yards for a score on the opening play of the third quarter to up the margin to 42-7.

Reynolds fumbled on

the first play of Oregon’s next possession, the game’s only turnover, and the Eagles quickly cashed in. Five runs by Smith produced Aurora Chris-tian’s seventh and final TD with 8:35 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 49-7 and set a running clock in motion the rest of the way.

Allowing an early Ore-gon score didn’t even reg-ister on the adversity scale for the Eagles, who started 5-0, then suffered a rash of injuries that led to a three-game losing streak. Fifteen of 22 starters were sidelined at least part of the time in losses to

Aurora Marmion (35-14), IC Catholic (48-6) and Lombard Montini (49-0).

Aurora Christian has gotten players back, how-ever, and it’s showed. The Eagles beat IC Catholic 24-3 in the first round last week before handling Oregon.

“It was ugly,” Beebe said of his team’s rough patch. “It was just awful football, and I felt bad for the kids. As their coach, I had to try to keep everything togeth-er and say, ‘Guys, we’ll get through this.’ We kept praying every day, and it really brought us togeth-er. Adversity does that.

“It was a metaphor for

the beginning of this game. Oregon ran it down our throats, 3, 4 yards at a time, and we couldn’t do anything about it. But we stuck together, and we got it turned around.”

Oregon made the score more respectable down the stretch with a pair of short TD runs by Adam Bettner and Reynolds. Much better than that, however, was qualify-ing for the playoffs in the first place, and gaining a memorable first-round victory over Wilmington.

After a loss to Rock Falls to conclude a 2-7 2012 season, Bothe challenged his returning players in a postgame meeting.

“I kind of read it to the juniors,” Bothe said. “I kind of let them have it. Our pro-gram was on the brink last year. We were down on the mat. We weren’t knocked out, but we were down on the mat. If we didn’t respond this year, who knows where we’d be?

“These kids, espe-cially this senior group, responded and brought us back to life. Where we go from here, I don’t know, but this group defi-nitely bounced us back.”

Chris Johnson/Shaw MediaAurora Christian’s Brandon Walgren (left) catches a touchdown pass behind Oregon’s Adam Bettner as time expires in the first half of Saturday’s 3A playoff game in Aurora. The Hawks lost 49-20.

Star of the game: Brandon Walgren, Auro-ra Christian, 6 recep-tions,179 yards, 2 TDs; TD passKey performers: Austin Bray, Aurora Christian, 7-for-11, 244 yards, 2 TDs; Sawyer Reynolds, Oregon, 14 carries, 72 yards, TD

FB3November 11, 2013 Sauk Valley Media

3A PLAYOFFS | BONUS COVERAGE

Beebe, Hawks go way back

BY BRIAN [email protected]

800-798-4085, ext. 551

AURORA – When people think of Don Beebe the athlete, one play comes to mind.

It was in Super Bowl XXVII, when his Buffalo Bills lost to the Dallas Cowboys 52-17. It could have been worse, if not for Beebe.

Late in that game, Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett recovered a fumble and rum-bled toward the end zone. He prematurely raised the ball with his right hand before crossing the goal line, how-ever, and Beebe, one the NFL’s fastest players, chased him down and knocked the ball away, saving a touchdown.

Beebe played nine seasons in the NFL, caught 219 passes for 3,416 yards, and scored 25 touchdowns. He also played in six Super Bowls – four with Buffalo and two with Green Bay.

My memory of Beebe, though, precedes his NFL days, and it involves the Oregon Hawks.

Beebe was a three-sport (foot-ball, basketball and track) ath-lete at Kaneland High School

(class of 1983, just like me), and a broad smile came over his face when I brought up a bas-ketball game during his junior year that I happened to attend.

It was a sectional game against

Oregon, and Beebe helped the Knights pull out a narrow victory over the Hawks.

“I made a steal with not much time left on the clock – I think it was under 10 seconds,” Beebe

said. “I made the steal, took a couple of dribbles, dished it to Bill Mangers, and he made the shot at the buzzer to beat Ore-gon. That was something else.”

Beebe attended college at

tiny Chadron (Neb.) State, after transferring from West-ern Illinois, and was drafted in the second round by the Bills in 1989. He turned heads at the NFL Combine with a time of 4.21 in the 40-yard dash, and that blazing speed helped him stay in the league for nine seasons.

In 1998, he founded a compa-ny called the House of Speed, to train athletes in the essentials of top performance, speed, and character. The business now has locations in 11 states.

He’s coached football at Auro-ra Christian since 2004, and has built the program into a power-house. The Eagles have won the last two 3A state titles, and are 96-25 under his watch – includ-ing three wins against Oregon the past 4 years in the playoffs. It’s not just about the wins and losses, he stressed.

“I just enjoy coaching kids, and helping them fulfill their dreams,” Beebe said. “I remem-ber when I was a kid and had those dreams as a high school athlete, and that’s why I’m at the high school level. I’m hav-ing the time of my life.”

Chris Johnson/Shaw MediaOregon’s Ashton Rutherford is tripped up by an Aurora Christian defender during Saturday’s game in Aurora. The Hawks lost to the Eagles, who are coached by former NFL player Don Beebe.

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3A PLAYOFFS | STILLMAN VALLEY 24, ERIE-PROPHETSTOWN 14

BY LARRY [email protected], ext. 550

ERIE – It fought valiantly, but Erie-Prophetstown could not overcome playing without its 3-year starting quarterback.

With senior QB Ethan How-ard sidelined with a knee inju-ry suffered in the first round, the Panthers battled. But they came up short in a 24-14 loss to Stillman Valley in a Class 3A second-round matchup in fero-cious wind at Wayne Hein Field at Erie Middle School.

Sophomore Jordan Chandler, who appears bound for a bril-liant high school career, tried to fill Howard’s shoes. But with its former halfback at quarterback, Erie-Prophetstown’s option attack was unable to run on all cylinders.

“Me and [Chandler] only had a week to practice to try to get what me and Ethan had for 10 games,” said fullback Nick Williams, who had 24 carries for 135 yards to surpass 2,000 yards for the season. “Jordan stepped up. He’s a great quarterback and a great runner. I’m proud of how he performed.”

“It hurt not having our start-ing quarterback out there,” said halfback Chris Bauer, who had 77 yards on nine carries. “He would have helped a lot, but our backup did great. We just made a few errors, and they made a couple big plays.”

Bauer got the Panthers (8-3) off and running. EP began the opening possession at its own 20. Seven running plays later, five by Williams and two by Bauer, the Panthers had a fourth-and-7 from the Stillman Valley 47.

They went for it. Bauer got it, and a lot more, busting loose for a touchdown. Williams added the two-point conversion, and

EP led 8-0 with 7:24 left in the first quarter.

A botched Stillman Valley punt resulted in the Panthers tackling Cardinals punter Marcus Bower at the Stillman Valley 31.

E r i e - P r o p h e t s t o w n w a s unable to cash in, however, as Chandler fumbled the ball away three plays later at the Cardinals’ 20.

Stillman Valley (9-2) rolled the dice to come up with its first touchdown. On fourth-and-3 from their own 19, the Cardinals went for it. Tristan Elliott burst through EP’s short-yardage defense and

bolted 81 yards for a touch-down. Logan Alberts’ two-point run made it 8-8 with 7:29 left in the first half.

Late in the first half, mistakes cost EP dearly.

The Panthers’ Dylan Binion returned the ensuing kickoff 27 yards to midfield. But three plays later, an errant Chandler pitch resulted in another fum-ble, and the Cardinals recov-ered at their 37.

With just 1:05 until half-time, Stillman Valley started at its own 25. Elliott broke free again, bursting 43 yards to the Panthers’ 32. A late hit out of bounds tacked on 15 more

yards to the 17.The Cardinals reached the

12 before lining up for a field goal on fourth-and-5. But, the Panthers jumped offsides, giv-ing Stillman first-and-goal at the 7. Two plays later, 6-foot-2, 230-pound fullback Zac Hare scored a 2-yard touchdown with just 6.7 seconds left. Elliott’s two-point run made it 16-8.

Stillman Valley turned the ball over on downs at its own 29 on the first possession of the sec-ond half. Again, EP could not convert, losing 5 yards on three plays before punting.

The Cardinals fumbled the ball away at the Panthers’

46 with 6:03 left in the third quarter. This time, EP made it count. A pair of 14-yard runs by Williams set up a 1-yard plunge by Chandler.

But, the two-point run attempt by Williams was stuffed, and the Panthers trailed 16-14 with 1.1 seconds left in the third quarter.

Stillman Valley answered, putting the game away with a 74-yard TD drive. A 36-yard run by Elliott highlighted the march, which was capped by a 1-yard TD by Hare. Alberts’ two-point run made it 24-14 with 7:07 to play.

“It was kind of that find-a-way-to-win playoff perfor-mance,” Cardinals coach Mike Lalor said. “It wasn’t real pretty, but when we had to make plays, we made plays. We also had a couple big breaks go our way.”

Williams wound up with 2,094 yards on the season.

“I never in my life expected to run fullback and eclipse 2,000 yards in a season,” said Wil-liams, who ran for 422 as a half-back last season. “It feels amaz-ing. I can’t even explain it. It’s awesome.”

Would it have been a different game with Howard?

“Yes, but I don’t want to take anything away from Jordan,” EP coach Chuck Miem said. “I don’t put any blame there. But Ethan makes a difference. There’s no doubt.”

Star of the game: Tristan Elliott, Stillman Valley, 222 rushing yards, TDKey performers: Nick Williams, Erie-Prophetstown, 135 rushing yards; Chris Bauer, Erie-Prophetstown, 77 rushing yards, TD; Connor McNames, Stillman Valley, 52 rushing yards

Philip Marruffo/[email protected]’s Chris Bauer runs up the sideline Saturday as he scores a touchdown against Stillman Valley. The Panthers lost 24-14 in the second-round game in Erie, ending their season with an 8-3 record.


No QB, no quarters


3A BONUS COVERAGE

BY LARRY [email protected], ext. 550

Chuck Milem remembers it vividly.

“It” being a meeting he had with this year’s Erie-Prophets-town seniors at Wayne Hein Field when they were eighth-graders. The schools’ junior high teams do not co-op.

“They were playing against each other,” Milem said shortly after his team’s 24-14 Class 3A second-round playoff loss to Stillman Valley on Saturday. “I came out and brought them all together. I told them that we had a lot of talent, and when we put it together, it was going to be a lot of fun. I can remember that con-versation like it was yesterday.”

In his sixth season, Milem’s first four saw little success. EP went 1-8 in 2008, 3-6 in both 2009 and 2010, and 1-8 again in 2011.

Then, a breakthrough. The Panthers had a 5-4 regular sea-son in 2012, earning the pro-gram’s first playoff berth in a decade.

This year was even better. An eight-win season, their best since becoming a co-op in 2001, and the program’s first playoff win since Prophetstown’s last in 1988.

“We’ve made history as a

program. It feels great knowing that we’ve gone this far,” said senior fullback Nick Williams, who rushed for 135 yards Satur-day to finish the season with a whopping 2,094. “I don’t think anybody expected us to make

it this far. We just showed what we were capable of.”

“My class was always good at football, and the class above me was good,” senior halfback Chris Bauer said. “I thought we had the potential to do this. We just had

to do the work in the offseason, lift weights in the morning, and practice hard every day.”

Though jumping from one win to five and then to eight in 3 short years seems quick, Milem wishes things would have come

together even faster.“This is my sixth year,” he

said. “In my fifth year, we got in the playoffs, and here we are today. It might look fast now, but it was long for me those first few years.”

Philip Marruffo/[email protected] senior Owen McConnell embraces a Stillman Valley player after the Panthers’ loss Saturday in Erie. The co-op went from a 1-8 record two seasons ago to back-to-back playoff appearances and the first postseason victory as a co-op.

New heights for EP

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BY DAN [email protected]

800-798-4085, ext. 555

STERLING – Perfection has been displayed in many ways throughout the course of human history.

A writer might contend that Shakespeare achieved perfec-tion with “Hamlet.” An artist might point to the “Mona Lisa.”

Every car commercial will say the latest model is perfect.

Jake Snow and Mike Papoccia will point to play No. 1 of Satur-day’s 35-12 win over Eastland-Pearl Ciy in the second round of the 2A playoffs at Sterling Chevrolet Field at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

Snow took the handoff from quarterback A.J. Sharp to the left side, found a gap that one of those perfect cars could have driven through, and burst into the open field. A mere 79 yards later, he crossed the goal line. A Brandon Ahlgrim kick put Newman up 7-0 with 13 seconds off the clock.

“That play was perfect,” Snow said. “The line blocked it per-fectly, and all I had to do was hit the hole and take it from there. We haven’t been a fast-starting team, so it was important to us to come out like that right away.”

“That play was perfectly exe-cuted,” said Papoccia, a 34-year veteran of the Newman sideline. “The line opened it up, and it was up to Jake after that. He’s been making that happen all year. It was huge, because I think it took some of the wind out of their sails and made them think a little bit.”

The Wildcatz (10-1) looked poised to punch back after Shawn Larak powered forward for 16 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive.

Eastland-Pearl City picked up another first down to advance to midfield. After a 3-yard run by

Donny Groezinger, quarterback Deven Heeren was sacked by Nate Terveer for a 6-yard loss.

After a punt by Skylar Paulson, Newman (10-1) took over at its own 35.

Mac Olson rumbled for 11 yards on first down to the 46. Three more yards by Dillan Heffelfinger put the ball at the 49, setting up Snow for more magic.

Snow, who was seen vomiting on the sideline before the game because of nerves, took the ball to the left side. He appeared to be stalled for a loss, before reversing his direction and tak-ing the ball 27 yards down the field to the EPC 22.

Two plays later, Olson – who had 74 yards on the day – carried two Wildcatz defend-ers into the end zone to put Newman up 13-0.

“We call him the Mac truck, because that’s the way he runs,” Papoccia said. “He’s so tough, and he fights for every inch.”

Olson also had 10 tackles from his linebacker position on

defense. That was second only to fellow linebacker Michael Ely, who had 12 tackles.

The Comets held 6-foot, 195-pound junior fullback Eric Schaney to 91 yards on 19 carries.

“You had to stay low on him,” Ely said. “If he got going full-steam ahead, it was pretty tough to bring him down. He was a load.”

Schaney drew the Wildcatz within a touchdown in the sec-ond quarter on an 18-yard run.

“The line opened that one up, and I didn’t get touched the whole way,” Schaney said. “They’ve being doing that the entire season. I got 1,000 yards all because of them.

“It felt like the momentum was shifting there, but we just didn’t play as well as we usu-ally do. Too many mistakes, and we couldn’t have that against a team like Newman.”

The Wildcatz missed a chance the drive before the touch-down, after Newman fumbled a punt return to set up EPC at the

Comets’ 32.The Wildcatz rumbled down

to the 17, but a halfback pass by Groezinger was intercepted by Trevor Bolin in the end zone.

“We didn’t take advantage of the one mistake they made,” Eastland-Pearl City coach Randy Asche said. “We didn’t handle the pressure as well as they did, and they took advantage. They’d get into that 4 yards, and 4 more yards, and 4 more yards. It grinds you down.”

After the Schaney score, New-man went on a 6-minute drive that was extended at one point by a late-hit penalty on EPC.

The Comets wrapped up the drive with 7-yard TD pass from Sharp to Shayne Allen with 34.7 seconds left. The 2-point con-version run failed, but Newman was up 19-7.

Neither team moved the ball much in the third quarter, and the Wildcatz started pressing late in the quarter. On fourth-and-long, Heeren hit Paulson on a 13-yard pass for a first down.

EPC tried its hand again on fourth down on the first play of the fourth quarter at the Newman 33.

Heeren tried to hit Schaney in the flat, but Ely charged up and knocked the ball to the ground.

“I just happened to see Schaney running out alone in the open, and I knew I had to get to him,” Ely said.

“We moved Michael to line-backer from nose tackle a few weeks ago because of injuries,” Papoccia said. “He’s such a smart player, and hasn’t missed a beat since making that move.”

Newman went on another 6-minute drive that ended with a 1-yard TD run by Heffelfinger.

EPC went into hurry-up mode down 27-6, and moved the ball quickly down the field via the passing game.

The Wildcatz scored on a 16-yard pass from Heeren to Groezinger with 4:25 left.

The onside kick attempt was recovered by Newman, and moments later, Snow put the game away with a 29-yard touchdown run.

Snow finished with 199 rush-ing yards. He also caught two passes for 29 yards.

“It was a physical game,” Snow said. “That’s what we like to do, and that’s what they like to do. I love playing in games like that. We just lined up and pounded on each other.”


2A PLAYOFFS | NEWMAN 35, EASTLAND-PEARL CITY 12

Star of the game: Jake Snow, Newman, 199 rushing yards, 2 TDsKey performers: Michael Ely, Newman, 11 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass break-up; Eric Schaney, EPC, 91 rushing yards, 1 TDUp next: 2A quarterfinals – Newman at Momence, TBD

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected]’s Mac Olson reaches out to score the Comets’ second touchdown in a 35-12 win over Eastland-Pearl City in the second round of the 2A playoffs at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

Right from start


2A BONUS COVERAGE

BY DAN [email protected]

800-798-4085, ext. 555

STERLING – Dusk hit Roscoe Eades Stadium on Saturday after the conclusion of Satur-day’s 2A second-round playoff game between Newman and Eastland-Pearl City almost as fast as Jake Snow had reached the end zone 13 seconds into the game nearly 3 hours earlier.

By that point, a sparse con-gregation of players, parents and fans remained, as Eastland-Pearl City coach Randy Asche descended the steps of the sta-dium after a radio interview in the press box.

Once on the field, Asche was greeted by one of the few remaining players in senior Boden Brandt. The two embraced and, for a few final moments, they were player and coach after the Wildcatz’s sea-son came to an end in a 35-12 loss to the Comets.

A week earlier, Brandt had been one of the players that said playing Newman in the playoffs had been the Wildcatz’s dream all season.

Saturday didn’t turn out to be such a dream. But, unlike previous games against Three Rivers North teams in the play-offs, it had less to do with a tal-ent gap between the Wildcatz

and the Comets.No, on Saturday, the loss came

down to two things, Asche said.“It came down to discipline

and poise,” he said. “They just had more of both. They have a lot of experience in games at

this level. You can look at the first play, and that was huge.

“But, we had too many penal-ties. The one right before half was big, because it let them continue a drive. They scored there, and that was huge.

We just haven’t been in those positions before.”

After two Newman posses-sions, the Wildcatz trailed 13-0. While the first two EPC drives showed promise, they didn’t equate to points.

“We didn’t play today like we should have,” Eastland-Pearl City junior fullback Eric Schaney said. “We learned what it takes. We worked hard to get to this point. Now, we have to work harder in the offseason to get back here next year.”

A long playoff run is the only thing missing from the Wild-catz’s proud football program. They’ve won the last two NUIC Northwest conference titles. They’ve gone undefeated dur-ing the regular season the last 2 years. They have been a perennial playoff team the last decade, but have only one quarterfinal appearance to show for it.

Seven times since 2000, the Wildcatz’s season has come to an end against a current Three Rivers North team.

“We had a great year,” said Asche, fighting back a tear. “You have to hand it to Newman. They put a lot of pressure on us to make plays on both sides of the ball. We did some things, but we have to do it every play. Newman is a great team, and the better team today. I hope that they go on and win it all.”

One of these years, Asche and his players hope it will be their turn to walk off the field happy, while the sun sets on some other team’s dream.

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected] Eastland-Pearl City’s Boden Brandt leads his team through the postgame handshake line after the Wildcatz’s 35-12 loss to Newman on Saturday in the second round of the 2A playoffs. It’s the seventh time that an EPC team has been knocked out of the playoffs by a Three Rivers North team since 2000.

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4A PLAYOFFS | ROCKFORD LUTHERAN 27, ROCHELLE 22

BY ANDY COLBERTShaw Media

ROCHELLE – In a 27-22 upset win over Rochelle in the 4A playoffs, Rockford Lutheran laid to rest any claims that they were incapable of playing with a physically-imposing team from the Northern Illinois Big 12 East.

“They were supposed to be bigger, faster, and from a tough-er conference,” Lutheran coach Bruce Bazsali. “People don’t understand how tough our kids are.”

With the way the game started, it appeared the Hubs would prove the prognostica-tors correct. The Hubs forced a Lutheran fumble at midfield, and drove to the 5-yard line for a first-and-goal.

In the first of many surpris-es to Rochelle, the Crusaders stiffened and kept the Hubs from scoring. Lutheran had a third-and-10 from the 9-yard line, and again it looked like Rochelle would get the ball back with good field position and restart its high-powered ground game.

Instead, quarterback Kendall Lawson found James Robinson in the flat, and the 195-pound

sophomore broke free for a critical first down. Lawson then got the Crusaders out of a second-and-22 situation with consecutive completions, the second a 61-yard touchdown to a wide-open Austin Sikora, after defensive back Griffin Gabriel fell down.

“After fumbling, it didn’t

bother us,” Lawson said. “We knew we could play with them. Nobody was giving us credit.”

Evan White, who led all rush-ers with 230 yards, fumbled on the Hubs’ next possession, and Robinson scored on a 32-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to make it 13-0.

“Their running back is the

real deal,” Rochelle defensive coordinator Chris Lewis said. “Lutheran did a good job of matching our physical play.”

White got Rochelle back in the game with 58-yard touch-down, in which he cut right, cut left, then outran the Lutheran defense.

The Hubs forced a punt, but another mistake proved costly. Miscommunication between quarterback Angel Burciaga and receiver Marquez Felix resulted in a Crusader interception by Joey Caravello.

On the next play, it was the speedy Robinson getting out-side and racing 22 yards for a touchdown and a 19-8 lead, silencing the Hubs’ large home crowd.

“We kind of dug ourselves in a hole in the first half, and that killed us,” White said.

White, who carried the Hubs on his back, gave his team some life with a 29-yard touchdown run, cutting the margin to 19-16 early in the third quarter.

His counterpart, Robinson, then added 29 of his 201 rush-ing yards on his third touch-down of game to make it 27-16, as the Hubs struggled to slow down the Crusaders’ offense.

Rochelle used two fourth-down conversions and a 32-yard pass from Burciaga to Keegan Akers to get within 27-22 on the last play of the third quarter.

Rochelle finally got the much-needed stop of Lutheran with consecutive sacks of Lawson. Following a punt, Rochelle had the ball at its own 27-yard line with 8 minutes left.

“It felt like we finally had momentum on our side,” Lewis said.

Reminiscent of a 20-14 play-off loss to Kaneland 2 years ago, the Hubs began what could have been a fourth-quarter win-ning drive. On a fourth-and-5, White was hit in the backfield, but broke free for a first down. Then, under pressure, Burciaga managed to get a 17-yard pass off to a diving White.

With the Rochelle crowd loud-ly cheering, a 10-yard White run set up a first down at the 20-yard line with 2 minutes left.

Unfortunately for the Hubs, the drive died at the 16-yard line, close to the same spot of the field as it did against Kaneland in 2011.

“Not getting that first touch-down of the game, and mistakes, really hurt us,” Lewis said.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw MediaRockford Lutheran running back James Robinson spins away from Rochelle’s Jordan Bernardin during Saturday’s 4A playoff game at Rochelle. The Hubs lost 27-22.

Proving ground


SECOND ROUND | THROUGH THE LENS

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected] City’s Donny Groezinger hauls in a pass in front of Newman’s Brandon Ahlgrim to score a touchdown late in Saturday’s game at Roscoe Eades Stadium. Newman won 35-12.

Philip Marruffo/[email protected]’s defense gangs up to bring down Stillman Valley’s Tristan Elliott during Saturday’s Class 3A playoff game at Wayne Hein Field. The Panthers lost 24-14.

Chris Johnson/Shaw MediaOregon’s Garrett Rude fights for yardage during Satur-day’s 49-20 loss to Aurora Christian in the 3A playoffs.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw MediaRochelle running back Marquez Felix drives through the Rockford Lutheran line during Saturday’s 4A playoff game. The Hubs lost 27-22.

QUARTERFINAL PAIRINGS

Chris Johnson/Shaw MediaOregon’s Pierce Dhaese catches a touchdown pass during the Hawks’ 49-20 loss to Aurora Christian in the Class 3A playoffs. Aurora Christian will play at Seneca in the quarterfinals.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw MediaRockford Lutheran’s Kendall Lawson passes over Rochelle lineman Lane Isley during Saturday’s game in the Class 4A playoffs. Lutheran won 27-22.


SECOND-ROUND RESULTSPlayoff Pairings Second round

CLASS 1A Upper bracket

Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket


Lower bracket

CLASS 1A

CLASS 2A

CLASS 3A

CLASS 4A

CLASS 5A

CLASS 6A

CLASS 7A

CLASS 8A

Alex T. Paschal/[email protected]’s Trevor Bolin intercepts a pass intended for Eastland-Pearl City’s Tristan Schubert in the end zone during the first quarter of Saturday’s 2A playoff game at Roscoe Eades Stadium. The Comets won 35-12.

CLASS 2Aat Roscoe Eades Field

NEWMAN 35, EASTLAND-PEARL CITY 12

EPC NFirst downs 11 21Total yards 255 410Rushes-yards 32-112 57-350Passing yards 143 60Passing (C-A-I) 7-15-2 5-6-1Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1Penalties-yards 5-55 3-11.5Punts-average 2-32 4-48.8Eastland-Pearl City 0 6 0 6 — 12Newman 13 6 0 16 — 35

First quarterN – Jake Snow 79 run (Brandon Ahlgrim kick), 11:43N – Mac Olson 10 run (kick failed), 6:16

Second quarterEPC – Eric Schaney 18 run (run failed), 6:46N – A.J. Sharp 7 pass to Shayne Allen (run failed), 34.7

Fourth quarterN – Dillan Heffelfinger 1 run (Snow run), 5:53EPC – Deven Heeren 16 pass to Donny Groezinger (run failed), 4:25N – Snow 29 run (Heffelfinger run), 2:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – EPC: Schaney 19-91, Shawn Larak 2-18, Ramsay Truckenmiller 2-5, Groezinger 2-0, Heeren 5-(minus-2); New-man: Snow 20-199, Olson 13-74, Heffelfinger 16-60, J.P. Neisewander 5-15, Eliott Jensen 2-7, Sharp 1-(minus 5). PASSING – EPC: Heeren 7-14-1, 143 yards, Groezinger 0-1-1; Newman: Sharp 5-6-1 60 yardsRECEIVING – EPC: Skylar Paulson 3-61, Groezinger 3-57, Cody Kluck 1-25; Newman: Snow 2-29, Heffelfinger 1-14, Bryce Ivey 1-10, Shayne Allen 1-7. TACKLES – Newman: Mike Ely 12, Mac Olson 10, Brady Rude 7, J.P. Neisewander 6, Nate Terveer 5, Brandon Ahlgrim 4, Trevor Bolin 4, Jacob Barnes 4, Nyle Nestor 3, Nolan McGinn 3, Regan Todhunter 2, Bryce Ivey 1, Logan Whitman 1. EPC: Austin Fischer 13, Walter Ollie 12, Cody Klcuk 11, Chase Giedd 10, Ramsay Truckenmiller 9, Tyler Mellnick 9, Mike Harrington 9, Mike Fahey 5, Boden Brandt 5, Skylar Paulson 3, Donny Groezinger 2, Tristan Schubert 2, Corbin Grossenbacher 1INTERCEPTIONS – Newman: Bolin, Neisewander. EPC: KluckPASS BREAK-UPS – Newman: Ahlrgim, Bolin, Ely, Terveer.FORCED FUMBLE – Newman: Ely.FUMBLE RECOVERY – Newman: Jensen.Records: Eastland-Pearl City 10-1, Newman 10-1

Class 3AWayne Hein Field, Erie Middle School

STILLMAN VALLEY 24, ERIE-PROPHETSTOWN 14

SV EPFirst downs 15 14Total yards 339 212Rushes-yards 50-339 45-212Passing yards 0 0Passing (C-A-I) 0-4-0 0-1-0Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-2Penalties-yards 6-36 6-47Punts-average 3-32 1-28

Stillman Valley 0 16 0 8 — 24Erie-Prophetstown 8 0 6 0 — 14

First quarterEP – Chris Bauer 47 run (Nick Williams run), 7:24

Second quarterSV – Elliott 81 run (Alberts run), 7:29SV – Hare 2 run (Elliott run), :06.7

Third quarterEP – Jordan Chandler 1 run (run failed), :01.1

Fourth quarterSV – Hare 1 run (Alberts run), 7:07

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – SV: Elliott 18-222, McNames 9-52, Alberts 8-26, Hare 10-24, Hoey 3-13, Castranovo 2-2. EP: Williams 24-135, Bauer 9-77, Sean Maloney 1-7, Chandler 9-(-2), Dylan Binion 2-(-5).

PASSING – SV: McNames 0-4-0, 0 yards; EP: Phillip Coers 0-1-0, 0RECEIVING – NoneRecords: Stillman Valley 9-2, Erie- Prophetstown 8-3

CLASS 3Aat Aurora

AURORA CHRISTIAN 49, OREGON 20

O ACFirst downs 14 17Total yards 230 378Rushes-yards 46-205 23-104Passing yards 25 274Passing stats (C-A-I) 3-6-0 9-13-0Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0Penalties-yards 1-5 3-15Punts-ave. 2-18.5 0-0Oregon 7 0 7 6 — 20Aurora Christian 7 28 14 0 — 49

First quarterO – Pierce Dhaese 2 pass from Tyler Blume (Sawyer Reynolds kick) 2:44AC – Austin Bray 3 run (Trevor Hills kick) :39.7

Second quarterAC – Brandon Walgren 45 pass from Bray (Hills kick) 10:24AC – Zach Bosek 30 pass from Walgren (Hills kick) 6:45AC – Legend Smith 1 run (Hills kick) 3:27AC – Walgren 44 pass from Bray (Hills kick) :00

Third quarterAC – Smith 56 pass from Bray (Hills kick) 11:38AC – Smith 1 run (Hills kick) 8:35O – Adam Bettner 3 run (Reynolds kick) 3:31

Fourth quarterO – Reynolds 1 run (kick failed) 7:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – Oregon: Reynolds 14-72, Nick Newman 11-63, Ashton Rutherford 11-51, Garrett Rude 8-14, Adam Bettner 1-3, Tyler Blume 1-2. Aurora Christian: Smith 11-64, Jeremiah Wiggins 10-46, Bray 1-3, Ben Weerts 1-(-9)PASSING – Oregon: Blume 3-6-0, 25 yards. Aurora Christian: Bray 7-11-0, 244 yards; Walgren 1-1-0, 30 yards; Weerts 0-1-0, 0 yards.RECEIVING – Oregon: Jacob Diehl 1-17, Reynolds 1-6, Dhaese 1-2. Aurora Christian: Walgren 6-179, Smith 1-56, Bosek 1-30, Noah Hagerty 1-9.Records: Oregon 6-5, Aurora Christian 8-3

CLASS 1Aat Galena

STOCKTON 34, GALENA 28 S GFirst downs 15 9Total yards 331 193Rushes-yards 57-321 36-167Passing yards 10 26Passing stats (C-A-I) 2-4-0 3-6-0Penalties-yards 2-20 7-45Punts-ave. 2-12.5 3-46Stockton 8 6 8 12 — 34Newman 8 14 6 0 — 28

First quarterS – Jordan Fox 4 run (Samd Eden run) 7:38G – Bruce Scharpf 2 run (Chris White run), 4:01

Second quarterS – Aric Jordan 1 run (run failed), 10:34G – Scharpf 8 run (Scharpf run), 3:37G – Scharpf run (run failed), 0:14

Third quarterG – Scharpf 45 run (run failed), 7:28S – Jordan 19 run (Fox run), 5:00

Fourth quarterS – Colton Broshous 2 run (run failed) , 9:01S – Broshous 2 run (run failed), 1:31

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING – Stockton: Broshous 27-154, Jordan 15-98, Fox 6-36, Eden 8-30, Staver 2-4; Galena: Scharpf 20-147, Long 11-15, Sasek 3-5; White 1-5, Willard 1-(minus 5). PASSING – Stockton: Fox 2-4-0 10 yards; Galena: Long 3-6-0, 26 yardsRECEIVING – Stockton: VenHuizen 2-10; Galena: Peebles 2-20, Karberg 1-6Records: Stockton 11-0, Galena 8-3


Numbers game: Saturday’s boxscores


Good Luckfrom KSB Hospital!

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Stephen Gabriel, M.D.Orthopedic Surgeon

Tyler Gunderson, M.D.Orthopedic Surgeon

Thomas Hernandez, M.D.Orthopedic Surgeon

(815) 285-5800

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