Jayden Ruth’s first varsity catch started with a bobble on a simple screen pass.

And then his speed took over.

The Yorkville sophomore took a screen from Jack Beetham and raced 48 yards for a touchdown on his team’s fourth play from scrimmage Friday.

The visiting Foxes hit Plainfield East with two long touchdowns on their first two drives. Their defense did the rest in a 28-0 win in a Southwest Prairie Conference crossover matchup of unbeatens.

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Yorkville at Plainfield East Yorkville's T.J. Harland (5) runs up the middle during football game between Yorkville at Plainfield East Friday, Sept 19, 2025 in Plainfield. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)

Ruth, like many of his counterparts on the Plainfield East side, has track experience.

He showcased those wheels in zooming past the Bengals’ defense after he almost dropped his first touch.

“It was just great blocking by my teammate A.J. [DiVito]. I saw an opening and took the opportunity to make a play,” Ruth said. “No nerves, it’s something I have done before and work on in practice all the time. Just go score and make a play.”

It wasn’t Ruth’s first big varsity play.

He made a game-saving interception in the end zone in the final seconds of a Week 1 win over St. Patrick. He’s played primarily defense up to this point, but Yorkville coach Dan McGuire would like to assimilate Ruth’s electric speed on the offensive side more.

“He’s definitely a threat, and I don’t think I’ve done a very good of getting him the football,” McGuire said. “Just got to try to find ways to utilize him.”

The Foxes (4-0) wasted no time jumping on the Bengals (3-1).

Yorkville forced three-and-outs on Plainfield East’s first two possessions. Ruth’s long TD followed the first, and on the second play of the Foxes’ second drive Gavin Geegan busted a 34-yard TD run for a 14-0 lead with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

“Huge,” Ruth said. “We’ve been starting off slow both sides of the ball. That was good to punch them in the mouth, set the tone right off the bat.”

Beetham was 8-for-15 passing for 139 yards and a 15-yard TD to DiVito just before halftime for a 21-0 lead. Geegan added an 8-yard TD run for Yorkville, and T.J. Harland rushed for 104 yards.

Meanwhile, Plainfield East was shut out after putting up 55 points in each of its first three games.

Plainfield East junior quarterback Brady Cloherty was 23-for-39 for 196 yards ,and David Croom III ran for 78 yards.

“A lot of quick screens we were not able to hit,” Cloherty said. “We’re a run-heavy team, and we had to adjust to them kind of stopping the run. They were all very physical, and they all rally to the ball well and play their coverages good.”

Containing Plainfield East’s exceptional speed was a concern of McGuire’s coming into the week. But Yorkville was able to fly to the ball and minimize the Bengals’ big plays.

“I think we just played as a team, did our responsibilities well, focused on the team game,” Yorkville junior defensive lineman Mark Smith said. “They had speed and a lot of track guys, and we had to keep them inside and contained. We just tried to smother them, get guys to the ball.

“If they can’t get to top speed, they can’t hurt us.”

Plainfield East, after its rough start, had four drives into the Yorkville red zone.

The first ended with a dropped pass in the end zone on fourth down. The next three also came up empty – two more turnovers on downs and a Daniel Kraus interception.

“Beyond the fact that we did well against a very athletic and explosive team, I felt our defense made some very good adjustments to some things we didn’t see during the week,” McGuire said. “I felt our kids were calm. There was no panic in our kids.”

Plainfield East, still off to a great start after a 2-7 2024 season, likewise isn’t panicking after one loss.

The Bengals next get winless district rival Plainfield South back in SPC East divisional play.

“Watch the film, whatever we missed,” Cloherty said. “I feel like in the second half we moved the ball a lot better. Just missed some opportunities.”

Yorkville, 4-0 for the first time since 2022, travels to fellow unbeaten Oswego next Friday.

“Rivals,” Ruth said. “We have to be prepared, prepared for anything.”