Fieldcrest falls just short of comeback win

MINONK – The Fieldcrest football team used the pass to get back into Friday’s game.

It just couldn’t use the pass to get all the way back.

In a Heart of Illinois Conference Small Division showdown with Heyworth, the Knights trailed by three touchdowns midway through the third quarter but used the aerial attack to nearly come all the way back.

However, Fieldcrest was unable to convert on the go-ahead two-point conversion pass with 54.3 seconds left as the Knights dropped a 29-28 heartbreaker to Heyworth.

“The second-half effort was great, but you can’t be a two-quarter team,” Fieldcrest coach Nick Meyer said. “We have to attack across the board. In the second half, we challenged them, but when you get into a hole like that against a good team, it’s hard to come back.”

Fieldcrest (2-3, 0-1 HOIC Small) trailed 22-0 with 8:51 left in the third quarter and 29-8 with 7:17 to go in the third quarter but threw its way back into the game.

Behind the passing of senior quarterback Brady Ruestman, the Knights’ aerial game propelled it to score 20 unanswered points – the last of which came when junior running back Eddie Lorton capped a pass-heavy drive with a 3-yard touchdown run that pulled Fieldcrest to 29-28 with 54.3 seconds to go.

Down by one, the Knights called a timeout before the two-point conversion try, but Ruestman’s pass fell incomplete in the end zone. The Hornets recovered Fieldcrest’s ensuing onside kick and went into the victory formation to seal the win.

“We had the tight end across the middle where we wanted him, but we just couldn’t connect,” Meyer said of the two-point try. “We had a chance to get our best players the ball in the end, but we didn’t complete it.”

The second-half heroics capped a tale of two halves for Fieldcrest.

After a scoreless first quarter, Heyworth (4-1, 1-0 HOIC Small) scored two second-quarter touchdowns to take a 15-0 lead to half and then scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to build a 22-0 advantage with 9:05 left in the third.

Fieldcrest finally showed signs of life when sophomore Braden Hahn scored on an 84-yard kickoff return to make it 22-8, but the Hornets came right back with a 45-yard TD run to push the lead to 29-8.

That’s when Fieldcrest’s passing offense came alive.

Jump-started when Ruestman found Lorton for a 32-yard pass to the 8-yard line, the Knights scored two plays later when Ruestman found senior receiver Jozia Johnson for a 5-yard TD. The two also connected on a two-point conversion to make it 29-16 with 2:47 left in the third.

Fieldcrest kept passing into the fourth quarter and made it a one-score game when Ruestman found Johnson again – this time for a 6-yard TD. The PAT pass failed, but the Knights pulled to 29-22 with 3:58 to go.

Needing a stop, the Fieldcrest defense rose to the task as it forced Heyworth to go three-and-out to get the ball back with 2:17 remaining.

“The defense did a great job there,” Meyer said. “It did a great job all night, but it was just the big plays. (Heyworth) wasn’t able to really sustain anything.”

The Knights took over possession at its 23-yard and went with the pass again.

Following a 15-yard pass interference penalty, Ruestman found Johnson, who caught the pass and zig-zagged his way down the field and around defenders to the 20-yard line for a 42-yard game.

Two more pass completions set up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line, and Lorton ran in the TD as Fieldcrest pulled to 29-28, but the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.

“Our kids really did a great job,” Meyer said. “In the end, they gave us a chance to win the football game, and that’s all you can ask for. They didn’t roll over and die, and we fought. I will take that all night, but that first half …”

Ruestman finished 13 for 23 for 224 yards and two TDs, while Johnson caught five passes for 96 yards and two TDs. Lorton finished with 11 rushes for 33 yards and a TD.

After the Fieldcrest offense managed just 98 yards of offense in the first half – including only 56 yards passing – it finished with 289 yards of offense total and 168 yards passing in the second half.

With the loss, Fieldcrest travels to Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley next week as it starts a stretch of playing three of its final four games on the road and needing to win three of four to qualify for the playoffs.