'Cats, Coalers win, Comets clipped

Wilmington's varsity football team avoided a three-peat of losses Friday night, scoring 27 second-half points to defeat Sandwich 41-19.

The Wildcats (2-2) racked up 449 yards of total offense, double the output by the hosting Indians, as three of their six touchdowns were runs or 27 yards or more, a sign that Wilmington may be playing more characteristic football with break-away gains. 

Wildcat running back Trey Shaw had touchdown runs of 53 yards and 27 yards in the first half as Wilmington built a 14-6 half-time lead. The 'Cats came out after the break with back-to-back scores from Conner Dempsay (1-yard run) and Sam Hafner (35-yard run). 

After Sandwich scored on a 66-yard pass, Dempsay and Hafner reached the end zone  again in the fourth with runs of 6 and 3 yards, respectively.

Dempsay led all rushers with 198 yards in 18 tries while Shaw finished with 10 carries for 122 yards. Defensively, Jesse Cox, Shaw and Dempsay recorded 6 tackles each while Keaton Hopwood had 5.

Wilmington hosts Peotone Friday.

COALERS CRUISE

Coal City built a 9-0 lead in the first quarter then kept the Bulldogs caged to win 15-0 at Streator.

The Coalers improve to 3-1 thanks to their scrappy defense that held Streator to 73 yards on the ground while pressuring two different Bulldog quarterbacks for 6-for-17 passing for only 66 yards.

Kicker Christian Knutson got the Coalers on the board four minutes into the game with a 30-yard field goal. Before the quarter was through Coaler junior Daniel Jezik reached pay dirt from 14-yards out to put the good guys up 9-0.

Coal City got its final TD in the third quarter when Jezik danced in from 4-yards out.

Max Arias had 22 carries for 96 yards to lead the Coalers. Jezik finished with 73 yards of total rushing, including his two towndowns while Cole Garcia gained 24 yards in six tries.

Coaler quarterback Payton Hutchings, who rushed for 15 yards in three attempts, was 6-for-19 for 70 yards with two interceptions.

Coal City hosts Plano Friday

COMETS IMPRESSIVE 

Reed-Custer may have lost 47-42 to Herscher Friday but they have nothing to hang their heads about after scoring 28 points in the four quarter in a thriller at home.

Herscher built a 26-7 lead and momentum in the first half. During that period the Comets reached the end zone once thanks to a 3-yard TD run from quarterback Josh Loomis.

After another Loomis touchdown run of two yards in the third quarter, the Tigers tallied 21 unanswered points to build a comfortable 47-14 lead. But the Comets never gave up, thanks to an offensive line that gave Loomis enough time to throw touchdown passes to Rick Siegers (50 yards) and Nicholas Mitchell (9 yards). Loomis also had scoring runs of 23 and 7 yards in the end to finish with four rushing touchdowns and two passing TDs in an impressive display.

The Comets finished with 429 yards of total offense while Herscher had 497. Reed-Custer out-passed the visitors 222 yards to 101 on 21-for-39 competions. Reed-Custer capitalized on three fumble recoveries while giving up two interceptions.

Loomis finished with 163 yards rushing in 28 tries. Gaining ground for the Comets were Kaleb Knust with 27 yards in six attempts, Nicholas Mitchell with two carries for 12 yards and Evan Pickard two for 5 yards.

Reed-Custer drops to 1-3 overall and will host Manteno Friday