With a playoff berth already secure, Plainfield’s objective Friday was to nail down a Suburban Prairie Red title share.
The Wildcats (7-2, 6-1) reached their goal as quarterback Jameson Jordan scored one touchdown and threw for another in the second half in a 17-10 victory over visiting Minooka.
The Wildcats are now playoff-bound, but there’s no guarantee they’ll play a first-round game next week. Teachers have authorized a strike.
“If they don’t come to some kind of agreement Sunday night, we could be on strike on Monday,” Plainfield coach John Jackson said. “Hopefully we can have a playoff game on Saturday.”
For nearly three quarters, the only scoring was a field goal by each team. But the Wildcats scored a go-ahead touchdown after a botched fourth-down snap by Minooka sailed to its own two-yard line. On the next play, Jordan scored on a keeper with 2 minutes 49 seconds left in the third.
Late in the fourth quarter, Jordan tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Gene Lahue.
Minooka tightened the final margin as quarterback Casey Krakowski tallied on a 10-yard keeper with 1:14 to play.
— Jack McCarthy
Conant 34, Barrington 12
Conant (6-3, 5-0) ran wild in the first half, with rushing touchdowns on its first three possessions, and claimed its second-straight Mid-Suburban West championship.
Leon Wiggins, who had a team-high 129 yards on 16 carries, opened the scoring at 8:24 of the first quarter with the first of his two rushing TDs. Visiting Barrington cut it to 7-6 about five minutes later with a 4-yard TD run by Aaron Kirchoff .
Tyler Rice and Tyler Sellegren added back-to-back Conant TDs, with runs of 57 and 1 yards, respectively. Evan Shy (13 carries, 121 yards) added the Cougars’ final first half TD–a 56-yard sprint up the middle–giving Conant a 27-6 lead.
Barrington (6-3, 3-2) scored at 9:35 of the third on Kirchoff’s second TD run. Mike Bialas had a game-high 135 yards rushing on 16 carries for the visitors.
— Ross Forman
Lyons Township 28, York 16
No league championship was on the line, and both teams are headed for the playoffs. So why was Lyons Township’s victory so big?
“It was for pride–and revenge,” Lyons running back Brian Davis said. “They knocked us out of the playoffs last year in the last game. I’m not so sure I’m excited about third place [in the West Suburban Silver]. But we’ve got a lot of confidence right now.”
Davis rushed 23 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns and returned a kickoff 81 yards for a score as the Lions (7-2, 4-2) closed out league play with hopes of a home playoff contest next week.
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York’s Nate Wallick (24 carries, 163 yards) scored from the 1-yard line on his team’s opening drive to stake the Dukes to an early lead. Then the fireworks started.
Davis scored from 22 yards out in a four-play drive, and seconds after the Dukes (6-3, 3-3) upped their edge to 14-6 on a 71-yard Wallick run, Davis returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD. The Lions added a 1-yard Davis dive with 7 seconds left in the half for a 21-14 lead, their first of the contest.
— Phil English
T.F. North 27, Rich South 12
Thornton Fractional North was hoping to do to Rich South what the Stars accomplished against the Meteors last year.
Rich South knocked the Meteors out of playoff consideration with a game-ending goal-line stand. This season, the Stars entered the game on the playoff bubble.
The win for the Meteors (6-3, 5-2 in the SICA Green) not only ended the Stars’ season but also guaranteed the Calumet City school its first playoff game in 18 years.
Rich South quarterback Billy Yeo, who entered the game with more than 2,000 yards passing and 19 touchdowns, was knocked out of the game with one minute left in the first quarter and the Meteors already leading 7-6.
After a crushing hit by three North defenders, Yeo initially attempted to walk off the field but suddenly fell to all fours. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for further observation.
Without its star, Rich South (4-5, 3-4) couldn’t answer 13 third-quarter points by the Meteors. Chris Anderson (8-of-10, 150 yards , two TDs) connected on scoring strikes to Greg Charles and Bobby Neal. Running back Chris Smith finished with 161 yards on 26 carries, including touchdown runs of 2 and 42 yard. Smith also added two interceptions on defense.
— Bill Harrison
W. Chicago 10, Naperville C. 7
West Chicago (5-4, 3-4) likely will head to the state playoffs for the first time since 1978, and Naperville Central (4-5, 4-3), last year’s Class 8A runner-up, will not see the postseason for the first time since 1991.
West Chicago had a 3-0 lead in the second quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Dan Harms, but Naperville Central went up 7-3 on a 40-yard touchdown run by Dan Passarelli with 10:32 left in the third.
West Chicago regained the lead with 2:27 to go in the third on a 4-yard run by Scott Sieder. The play was set up by Ryan Spuhr, who recovered a fumble at Naperville Central’s 35-yard line. Spuhr also had an interception in the third.
Passarelli, who bruised his right shoulder in practice Tuesday, played about five minutes of the third quarter and had to leave the game because of the injury.
Naperville Central came up short on its last drive of the DuPage Valley game. The Redhawks drove to West Chicago’s 20-yard line in the fourth quarter, but on fourth-and-4 with 25 seconds remaining, quarterback Blake Jeffers threw an incomplete pass.
Bartlett 17, Waubonsie Valley 8: Waubonsie Valley (3-6, 1-5) struck first with 2:07 left in the second quarter on a 9-yard pass from Paul Blaylock to James Antonides. But Bartlett (6-3, 6-1) rattled off 17 unanswered points as Brad Podge ran for two second-half TDs in the Upstate Eight.
Brother Rice 16, Loyola 10 (OT): Matt Mikaitis scored on a 1-yard plunge in the extra session to lift the Crusaders (6-3, 3-3) in the Catholic Metro Blue. Loyola (4-5, 2-4) took a 10-0 lead into the third quarter on Matt McDonaugh’s 1-yard TD run and Tom Hefty’s 27-yard field goal. But Brother Rice tied it up in that quarter with a George Anderson field goal and Dan Nicholson’s 20-yard scoring toss to Mikaitis.
Glenbard South 23, Fenton 10: Tim O’Shea threw TD passes to Tom Neckopulos and Steve Jurkovic and returned a punt 52 yards for another score to lead the Raiders (7-2, 5-2) in the Suburban Prairie Red.
Homewood-Flossmoor 44, Bloom 20: Safety Bill Spieth had three fumble recoveries and returned two for touchdowns for the Vikings (5-4, 4-3) in the SICA Blue.
Lake Zurich 24, Crystal Lake South 13: Chris McNeil returned a fumble 53 yards for a TD in the second quarter to spark Lake Zurich (8-1, 8-1) in the Fox Valley. Chris Redding rushed 31 times for 188 yards and two TDs as Lake Zurich claimed its first conference championship since 1976.
Neuqua Valley 29, Streamwood 0: In the Upstate Eight, John Bubeck rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries to help the Wildcats (6-3, 5-1) earn their first playoff appearance.
Oswego 33, Batavia 14: Paul Salopek caught a TD pass and rushed for a score for Oswego (8-1, 6-1), which will share the Suburban Prairie Red championship with Plainfield.
Prospect 35, Rolling Meadows 7: Bryon Gattas ran for 116 yds and two TDs while Jared Dall threw for 206 yards and two TDs as Prospect (7-2, 3-2) rolled in the Mid-Suburban East.
Rich Central 43, Kankakee 27: Segun Ayeni and Terrell Blackshire combined for 285 yards rushing and three TDs on 33 carries to help Rich Central (6-3, 5-2) clinch the SICA Green title.
St. Charles North 27, East Aurora 7: The Stars clinched their first playoff berth in only its second year of existence after starting the season 0-3 and winning their last six games. Dom Cozzi led North (6-3, 5-1) in the Upstate Eight with 159 yards and two TDs on 25 carries.
Zion-Benton 19, Grant 13 (OT): Alex Morrison accounted for 204 yards of offense and three touchdowns, including a 10-yard TD run in overtime to give the Zee-Bees (8-1, 5-0) the edge in the North Suburban Prairie.
Eric Horvath’s 20-yard run tied the game at 13-13 for Grant (5-4, 2-3) with 2:49 left in the fourth quarter, but Jimel Denham blocked Dominick Lostroscio’s extra point. Lostroscio then missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt with 3.5 seconds left and a 9-yard attempt in overtime on Grant’s first possession.
Public League playoffs
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Dunbar 44, Fenger 0: Lawrence Mitchell and Jason Johnson combined for 223 yards rushing and four touchdowns as Dunbar (6-3) crushed Fenger (4-5).
Julian 37, Westinghouse 26: Julius Strong had 14 carries for 142 yards and two TDs and had a 92-yard kickoff return for a TD for the Jaguars (7-2).
Morgan Park 28, Curie 14: The Mustangs (6-3) never trailed as Pierre Sims opened the scoring with a 90-yard kickoff return and Andre Downing tossed TD passes to Kevan Brown and Jordan Ebersley. .