NEW LENOX -- The 266-mile trip to O'Fallon from New Lenox probably seemed a lot shorter to the visiting Panthers than did the short walk to the locker room for the Lincoln-Way Central Knights.
Thanks to a stifling defense spearheaded by Tivon Taylor, who recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for one touchdown and returned a fumble for another, O'Fallon shut out the fourth-seeded host Knights 16-0 in a Class 7A first-round playoff game Friday.
"Coach says go hard or go home," Taylor said. "If the ball is on the ground, pick it up and go home with it."
Taylor did just that, not once, but twice. With 7:50 to play in a scoreless first half, John Bouquet blocked a Scott Secor punt. When the ball finished rolling 15 yards later, Taylor was on top of it in the end zone for a 7-0 O'Fallon lead.
With 3:57 left to play, Taylor sent the fifth-seeded Panthers into a second-round home game against Lincoln-Way East next week. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound defensive end took a fumble recovery 27 yards for the clinching score.
"He's been outstanding all year. He is so tough to block," said O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst. "He's a speed-edge rusher and he was great tonight. To get a punt block and then force a fumble and score, what more can you say. They couldn't block him tonight and he was great."
Lincoln-Way Central coach Tim Dougherty had a slightly different perspective. "A blocked punt and a fumble recovery - that's a tough one to swallow."
B.J. Hendrix led O'Fallon with 91 yards rushing, while John Betten threw for 77 yards on a very windy night. The Panthers also had a 2-to-1 first down ratio advantage.
Despite the ideal field conditions provided by the artificial turf, Lincoln-Way Central (6-4) struggled offensively the entire game. The Knights finished with just 13 net yards rushing.
Quarterback Bryan Hennessy threw for 99 yards, but had two passes picked off, both by Dionte Sullivan. The second interception came with 1:33 to play in the first half and led to a 37-yard field goal by Kurt Rosenbaum with no time remaining, giving the Panthers a 10-0 halftime lead.
"Our defense played extremely well," Dougherty said. "They were out there quite a bit. We just couldn't get anything going in the run game."
The closest offensive scoring opportunity for Lincoln-Way Central came late in the third quarter with the Knights trailing 10-0.
After four straight completions for a total of 35 yards, Hennessy connected with Evan Branyik for a pass and run to inside the O'Fallon 5. That play was called back and after two completions, the Knights were had to punt.
"I thought it was a bad call," said Dougherty of the penalty that wiped out the long play. "They are man-to-man and he's mugging our guy and they call it against us. That was a big momentum change."
The breaks went against the Knights again early in the fourth quarter. Central blocked a punt deep in O'Fallon territory but the loose ball was picked up by -- who else -- Tivon Taylor. The long return by was called back because of a penalty, but the potential game-changing momentum had again been lost.
"It was pretty crazy," Dougherty said. "A blocked punt for a touchdown, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and our longest play called back. We had a blocked punt and they picked it up. We could have played all night. It was their night."
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