Plainfield North front four stands tall on Minooka

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PLAINFIELD -- Plainfield North head coach Tim Kane challenged his defensive line to step up for its Southwest Prairie matchup with Minooka High School on Friday night.

In the end, it turned out that more than the Tigers' front four got the message as Plainfield North's defense forced five turnovers on the night in running roughshod over Minooka for a 43-6 decision.

"We challenged our defensive line to be physical and control the line of scrimmage," Kane said. "They did that and our linebackers filled in and put some hits on people."

Plainfield North's defense created four fumbles on the night, recovering three -- including the second one that resulted in the Tigers' second touchdown, a 2-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal by senior quarterback Andrew Starks.

One series earlier, Devonta Davis, starting his first game in the backfield, hit paydirt after a 5-yard dash up the middle.

Starks, Davis and the rest of the contingent for Plainfield North (2-4, 2-2) were just getting started, with Davis setting up the Tigers' final touchdown before the break with his interception.

Two plays later, the junior snared away a potential interception and turned it into a 48-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Bryce Corrigan with under 15 seconds to play. That made it a 22-0 lead at the break.

The Tigers, playing without the injured Jacob Arnold, needed that backfield boost from Davis.

"What an outstanding job he did for us," Kane said of Davis, who carried the ball 8 times for 57 yards and totaled 3 receptions for 61 yards, besides the interception.

Looking to right itself after mustering just 50 yards of total offense on 28 first-half plays, Minooka turned the ball over twice within its first four offensive snaps of the second half with Starks' interception setting up Plainfield North's fourth touchdown, a 21-yard pass off of a reverse from Alex Helriegel to Troy Holler.

"It's huge," said Kane of the turnovers. "Earlier in the year, we weren't getting that. It's nice to be on the flip side."

Minooka (2-4, 1-3) managed its only touchdown on its very next possession -- a 3-yard run by senior wingback Elliot Allen (15 carries, 84 yards) -- but for the third time in four weeks the Indians' offense was held to seven points or less.

"We just did not play very well tonight," Minooka head coach Bert Kooi said. "We were moving in the right direction (after last week's 31-7 win over Oswego East) and I felt we were climbing the ladder to get to that point.

"But tonight, we made too many mental mistakes and did not tackle very well. We just didn't play well."

Going to the well, Plainfield North tallied its final two touchdowns to open the fourth quarter with Starks' second score (1-yard run) and Corrigan's second TD strike, this time to Helriegel from 24 yards out.

"We have lost some real close games, but the one thing our kids have done is kept battling all year long," Kane noted. "They have had a tremendous attitude even after close defeats."