All three phases were clicking for Coal City on Friday night, as a fast start quickly turned into a nightmare for Streator, resulting in a 49-13 Illinois Central Eight Conference victory for the Coalers.

Coal City junior quarterback Connor Henline put on a near-perfect first half, completing 8-of-14 passes for 166 yards and five touchdowns before giving way to backups after halftime.

“Connor’s an extremely talented player, extremely smart,” Coal City head coach Francis Loughran said. “You saw today the way he was able to read the defense and get the ball out. The good thing is that he just keeps getting better and better each week.”

Coal City (3-1, 1-0) leaned heavily on the passing game in the first half, attempting 14 throws compared with just five rushing plays despite building a sizable lead.

Loughran said the game plan going in wasn’t necessarily to pass frequently, but depended on what he and his staff saw developing during the game.

“It’s nice to have a balanced attack with a lot of different weapons,” he said. “It’s tough to defend.”

Henline was efficient and made sure to spread the ball around to all of those aforementioned weapons, including senior receiver Gavin Berger, who caught two touchdown passes, and junior tight end Aiden Scrogham, who also hauled in a pair of scores.

Junior running back Logan Natyshok helped out both ways and was the leading rusher, carrying three times for 54 yards and a score while adding two catches for 41 yards.

While the skill players certainly did their job, Henline consistently had a clean pocket to work with - even with starters missing along the offensive line. The southpaw quarterback made sure to give credit to his protection.

“They did a great job tonight,” Henline said. “We had our tight end step in and a back up at guard, and they gave me a clean pocket. I felt really comfortable back there all game.”

Early short fields helped Coal City jump out to a big lead, while the defense and special teams kept Streator off-balance. The Coalers defensive line was disruptive without blitzing often, and punt returner Brody Widlowski twice set up the offense in scoring position.

“I thought our D-line created pressure on their own without blitzing, and our linebackers stepped up against that option game,” Loughran said. “Just downhill, aggressive play. It’s what we love to see.”

Streator (1-3, 0-2) head coach Jay Slone pointed to missed blocking assignments and difficulty slowing down Coal City’s passing attack for the slow start.

“Hats off to Coal City, they’re a great football team,” Slone said. “We simply didn’t make our blocks. Our offensive line has to do better, and we just couldn’t defend the pass or create pressure on the other side of the ball.”

Slone added that the Bulldogs turned back to junior Sharonn Morton at quarterback in the fourth quarter after he had played receiver most of the game.

“Sharonn has played quarterback before, and sometimes it’s just about getting your most athletic player in at the most important position,” Slone said. “We wanted to give him a chance late to spark the offense and get some positive momentum.”

Morton finished with three catches for 89 yards and a touchdown along with two carries for nine yards, while also contributing multiple tackles in the secondary.

He had a big play in the first quarter when he hauled in a juggling 68-yard touchdown grab from junior quarterback Sam LeRette to tie the game 7-7 before Coal City answered with six straight scores to take control by halftime.

Before Morton relieved him as the signal-caller, LeRette played solid but was under constant duress. He closed out the game completing 9-of-16 passes for 131 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Junior running back Lavontae Horton led Streator on the ground with 11 carries for 40 yards.