Marquette battles Wisconsin state champ to very end

The Marquette Crusaders matched Edgar — the two-time defending Division 7 (small-school) state champion in Wisconsin — play-for-play and yard-for-yard until the Wildcats kicked a field goal in the final seconds of a 9-6 win last Friday.

“Our defense played great, and we went toe-to-toe with them,” Marquette coach Ken Carlson said. “Our offense got going in the second half and threatened in the red zone twice, but turned it over on downs both times.

“We did a lot of good things, and some bad, but we are close. We have been in games with a chance to win against two very good teams (Aurora Christian and Edgar), and we just have to learn from it and keep moving forward with our conference games starting next week.”

Marquette visits Chicagoland Prairie Conference foe Dwight in Week 4.

Defense keeps Fieldcrest in game

While the 42-14 final score may not indicate it, Fieldcrest was right there with eventually victorious Tremont in their Heart of Central Illinois crossover Friday night at Poorbaugh Field.

In fact, it was a seven-point game at the start of the fourth quarter until an onside kick, a recovered squib kick and a fumbled Fieldcrest punt return allowed the Turks to rattle off 21 consecutive points without Fieldcrest’s offense getting a single snap.

While the Fieldcrest offense had a couple highlights, it was the Knights defense that kept them in the game. Fieldcrest responded to Tremont scoring on its opening two possessions by forcing two second-quarter turnovers on downs (Braydin Eplin and Lucas May with tackles for loss to put Tremont behind the sticks) and a fumble in Knights territory (recovered by Chance Hedrick) to close the first half.

“We were bending, weren’t breaking; bending, weren’t breaking,” Knights coach Nick Meyer said. “A lot of guys are banged up, so we have a lot of young guys playing who stepped up. Their number was called, and I was happy with how they played. They played hard, you know?”

Playoff paths thin for Ottawa, Streator

Week 3 losses made the potential playoff paths for both the Ottawa Pirates and Streator Bulldogs significantly thinner.

Ottawa’s 41-24 loss to La Salle-Peru was only its first of the season, true, but it closed a scenario where the Pirates could have reached the magic number of five wins without having to upset any of the Interstate 8 Conference’s big four – Morris, Sycamore, Rochelle or Kaneland. To get to five wins and a likely playoff spot now, Ottawa would need to win its rematch with L-P in three weeks, knock off one more I-8 team and finish the regular season with a victory over currently winless Granite City.

Streator’s nail-biting loss at Reed-Custer to open the Illinois Central Eight Conference schedule has left the Bulldogs 1-2 with five of their remaining six regular-season games against 2024 playoff teams. The other is against a Herscher team that is currently 2-1.

Seneca’s goal-line stop, big run grabbed momentum for good

Seneca held an eight-point lead against Clinton early in the second quarter, but the Maroons, starting at their own 9, put together a 13-play drive that put the ball at the Fighting Irish 11.

Three plays later the hosts had moved the ball to the 3, but on fourth down Seneca senior defensive lineman Landen Venecia knifed through to tackle the Clinton quarterback for a loss. Two plays later senior running back Cam Shriey was running for a 92-yard touchdown, and the Irish were on their way to a 50-0 win.

“That drive was frustrating, but we were able to get the stop when we needed it,” Venecia said. “When a team gets down inside the 10, you just have to be as physical as you can, and we did that.”

Week 3 scoreboard

La Salle-Peru 41, Ottawa 24

Mahomet-Seymour 45, Sycamore 16

Morris 35, Peoria High 28

Kaneland 35, DeKalb 7

Lena-Winslow 20, Rochelle 7

Reed-Custer 28, Streator 21

Wilmington 41, Peotone 13

Herscher 28, Manteno 23

Coal City 49, Bloom 0

Edgar (Wisc.) 9, Marquette 6

Seneca 50, Clinton 0

Shelbyville 51, Dwight 48

North Boone 20, St. Bede 14

Sandwich 32, Plano 30

Tremont 42, Fieldcrest 14

P-B-L 48, Pontiac 22

8-man: FCW 60, Galva 25