Brakes put on another successful Raiders season

Bolingbrook's Jamel Martin breaks a long run against Downers Grove South to set up a touchdown Saturday. Martin finished the season with 1,368 yards. JOHN PATSCH / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Stunned silence.

That was the look from the Bolingbrook players as they were powerless to stop the running clock, trailing in the closing seconds of their rematch versus Downers Grove South on Saturday.

Down 22-19 and out of timeouts, the Mustangs charged the field when the buzzer sounded as they, instead of Bolingbrook, moved on to the quarterfinals of the Class 8A playoffs.

For the second-seeded Raiders, it was a second-round exit, again. This time, however, it was at home to a team they defeated Aug. 28 by just two points.

While the loss and disappointment are on the players' minds right now, lost in everything is the fact that Bolingbrook had another solid season, one the majority of teams in Illinois would envy.

Conference title, check. Secure a home playoff game by having a high seed in the first round of the playoffs, check.

All of this success came while Bolingbrook had to suffer from a constant injury bug that was arguably the worst in Raiders coach John Ivlow's tenure as head coach.

One of Brad Geever's main targets, Anthony Greene was out after just one play. That same game, the Raiders lost Mike Hellams with a shoulder injury. Throughout the season there were broken fingers, broken toes and finally the injury no one could see coming, the flu.

"We stayed inside because we didn't want any more of the kids getting sick than we already had," Ivlow said after Bolingbrook's 26-13 win against Lincoln-Way Central in the regular-season finale when a portion of his team came down with the flu.

While the injuries could be a convenient excuse, Bolingbrook never used it for its performance. Despite all the health concerns, Bolingbrook amounted a total of 3,486 yards of total offense for a 317 yards per game average.

Jamel Martin nearly doubled his yards from last year (752) on the ground as he ran for a team-best 1,368 yards. Martin made history in the Sept. 19 game at Thornton as he recorded 305 yards on 33 carries.

Martin was just the fourth running back in school history to reach that mark.

"I don't care about the carries or yards that I get in the game," Martin said. "If I was told I would get like one to two carries for no yards and my team wins, I will gladly take that."

Devonte Jones increased his run production by more than 100 yards and Geever threw a couple yards over his 2008 mark. Also freshman wide receiver Aaron Bailey began his high school career with a spark as he finished the season with 321 yards and seven touchdowns.

On the defensive side going into the season, there were many questions about the Raiders' secondary as the jobs were up for grabs.

Starting from Week 1, the secondary answered the bell and forced the majority of the team's 28 turnovers. The Raiders' defense blossomed in the Homewood-Flossmoor game in Week 6 as it forced eight takeaways in a 42-6 victory.

More than 30 seniors are cleaning out their lockers for the final time.

And even though the Raiders will be watching the Class 8A finals from home this season, those seniors and the rest of the team shouldn't forget what they accomplished.

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