Scoring buckets in rain

Minooka's quarterback Brian Martin (4) looks for an open man in against Plainfield Central.
(Larry Kane/For the Herald News)

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It didn't take long for Plainfield Central to set the tone for Friday night's game against Minooka.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Wildcats needed all of three plays to reach the end zone. Alonzo Morgan started the drive with a 12-yard run, then Brian Meeks ripped off a 25-yard gain. Matt Lancor finished it off with a 32-yard TD run and, less than a minute in, the Wildcats (8-1, 7-0) owned a 6-0 lead en route to a 53-15 rout that clinched the Southwest Prairie Conference championship.

The opening drive was a microcosm of the game as a whole. It didn't matter who ran it for Plainfield Central. They were going to gain yards, and lots of them.

In all, the Wildcats ran for 458 yards in the muck and mud, with Meeks (160), Morgan (130) and Lancor (127) all breaking the 100-yard barrier. Morgan scored three times on the ground and added a touchdown reception, while Lancor and Meeks had a pair of rushing TDs.

When the young men carrying the ball are putting up those kinds of numbers, there are larger young men in front of them leading the way. Wildcat linemen Kyle Gurke, Matt Schnecke, Mike Hamby and Steve Bosilovatz routinely blew the Minooka defense off the ball, leaving gaping holes for the backs to choose from.

"The line blocked great," Morgan said. "Without them, nothing works."

Plainfield Central coach John Jackson was equally enamored of his line's play.

"The offensive line has been a strength for us all year," he said. "Those guys really get after it. And, they can make adjustments if they have to. We run our stuff, but if they have to make line calls or anything like that, they can do it. It's a good unit."

Good enough to dominate from start to finish.

After the opening touchdown, the Wildcats' defense stepped up with an interception by J.P. Byrnes at the Minooka 47.

Four running plays got the Wildcats to the Minooka 32. On 2nd-and-9, Plainfield Central quarterback Alex Parks faked a handoff to Meeks and threw to a wide-open Morgan in the left flat. Somehow, Morgan was able to both stay on his feet and keep his feet in bounds. Once he got his balance, he made a move to the inside and went the rest of the way into the end zone. Meeks added the two-point conversion run for a 14-0 lead with 7:21 still to play in the first quarter.

The Central defense buckled down again, forcing a punt, and the Wildcats took over at their own 35. Once again, it didn't take long to find the end zone. Morgan broke free on a 32-yard run on 3rd-and-1 from the Central 44 and, after a 15-yard gain by Brock Douglas (3 carries, 25 yards), Lancor scored from 9 yards out for a 20-0 lead.

Elliot Allen then provided Minooka (3-6, 2-5) with its only spark of the first half, returning the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, and A.J. Zalewski's kick made it 20-7 with 3:51 to play in the first quarter.

The Wildcats were more methodical on their next drive, using 10 plays to cover 85 yards. Lancor started the drive with a 20-yard burst and Douglas later added a 12-yard run to move the ball to the Minooka 40. A pass interference penalty moved it to the Minooka 12 and Morgan finally went over from the 1 with 10:45 to go until halftime. Douglas added the conversion run for a 28-7 lead.

Minooka got into Wildcat territory for the first time when Brian Martin hit Allen for a 35-yard gain to the 37. On 4th-and-2 from the 15, Martin dropped back to pass, but slipped and fell for a 10-yard loss.

The Wildcats went right back to work, with Lancor delivering a 53-yard gain on 3rd-and-6 to move the ball to the Minooka 18.

On first-and-goal from the 6, the Wildcats were whistled for an illegal block, moving the ball back to the 18. On 3rd-and-goal from the 20, Parks hit Morgan with a 15-yard pass to the 5. Lancor then went over the right side for a touchdown and Evan Engelsen's kick made if 35-7 with 1:59 to play until halftime.

"We just didn't play very well defensively again tonight," Minooka coach Bert Kooi said. "We got beat up front."

Minooka received the second-half kickoff, but lost the ball on downs at the Central 40. Meeks made it hurt when he went 60 yards for a touchdown on the first play for a 41-7 lead.

On the Indians' next possession, they were stopped on a fake punt and Central took over at the Minooka 34. Two runs by Meeks covered 22 yards, and Morgan did the rest with a 12-yard TD run.

The Wildcats recovered the free ball on the ensuing kickoff and Morgan went 37 yards on the first play for a 53-7 lead.

Allen capped the scoring with a 13-yard TD run with 4:56 left, after ripping off a 53-yard run earlier in the drive. He finished with 74 yards on 7 carries.

"The offensive line did a great job, and the wide receivers blocked well, too," Meeks said. "We executed real well and had a great game.

"It feels real good to be undefeated in the conference and win the conference title. Now, the second season starts."

"We're starting to peak at the right time," Jackson said. "We had a real good week of practice and we were really crisp tonight. Their defense is real similar to ours, so we were able to use our starting defense as the scout defense at practice.

"I'm happy for our kids. To go undefeated in this league is quite an accomplishment for them. Now, we have to get ready for the second season. We'll find out (Saturday) night who we play in the playoffs and we'll go from there."

Though his team lost, Kooi did see a silver lining in the form of quarterback Martin, who came back from a broken ankle suffered in the first game of the year to play in the last two contests.

"It's not how we wanted to finish the season, that's for sure," he said. "But I can't say enough about Brian Martin.

"I've coached for about 25 yards, and I've never seen a kid do what he did to come back for two games. He had a broken ankle that had screws put into it in the first week and he was able to come back for Week 8. You don't hear of NFL guys doing that.

"That showed dedication and leadership that I really hope rubs off on our younger guys."