In Week 8, four Daily Journal area teams took part in what could have been argued as the biggest game of the week in the state at each level – Bradley-Bourbonnais traveled to Lincoln-Way West for a primetime matchup of AP-ranked Class 7A teams, Bishop McNamara went to Hope Academy for a clash of undefeated, ranked Class 3A teams and the area’s two 8-Man football teams, St. Anne and Milford/Cissna Park, got together for a collision of 6-1 squads.

Those six teams entered Week 8 with a combined three losses, a number that doubled after the Boilermakers handed the Warriors their first loss in resounding fashion, the Fightin’ Irish started fast and finished strong at Hope and the Cardinals turned a one-point halftime deficit into a runaway win.

The Boilers (7-1, 4-1) put themselves in prime position to share the Southwest Valley Conference Red Division with both West and Lincoln-Way Central while the Fightin’ Irish (8-0, 6-0) earned at least a share of the Chicagoland Christian Conference and the Cardinals (7-1) earned a signature road win.

All three winning teams saw masterful individual performances, as Lyzale Edmon caught three of Ellis Johnson’s four touchdown passes for the Boilers, Julius May tallied four scores at Hope and Quinton Thompsen had four touchdowns of his own for the Cardinals. But all three of those teams have one thing in common – from the offensive and defensive lines, to the secondaries and skill positions, all three teams are rock solid from top to bottom and becoming more and more of a threat as the playoffs approach.

Quick recap

Here are the Daily Journal area’s scores for Week 8:

• Bishop McNamara 49, Hope Academy 20
• Bradley-Bourbonnais 35, Lincoln-Way Central 13
• Kankakee 52, Thornton 6
• Manteno 25, Peotone 20
• Coal City 56, Herscher 7
• Wilmington 54, Reed-Custer 6
• Momence 44, Watseka 19
• Clifton Central 44, Iroquois West 8
• St. Anne 61, Milford/Cissna Park 28

Manteno comes up clutch in win to remember at Peotone

As Manteno hit halftime of the Panthers’ annual Rumble on Route 50 rivalry at Peotone, they felt pretty confident with a 13-0 lead despite a pair of turnovers.

But as tame as the first half was, the second half was even more wild, with the Blue Devils taking their first lead of the game at 20-19 when Tucker Cain’s 20-yard touchdown came after Peotone recovered an onside kick, threw an interception and then recovered a fumble on the interception return.

But after getting the ball back with a bit over four minutes left, Connor Harrod’s fourth total touchdown of the game was a 40-yard bomb to tight end Jake Stevens with 2:29 on the clock. The Blue Devils quickly marched down the field, and on 4th-and-goal from the Manteno 6-yard line with two seconds left, Nick Honkisz’s sack of Alex Chenoweth wrapped up a 25-20 win.

While one of Kankakee County’s longest, most bitter rivalries needed no extra motivation, the win both gave the Panthers their fifth win that likely ensures a playoff spot while the Blue Devils suffered their fifth loss and were eliminated from the postseason hunt.

Kankakee and Crete-Monee, Wilmington and Coal City to meet for conference titles

Week 9 will bring the area a pair of matchups between undefeated conference foes to decide their respective conference championships.

A week after clinching its playoff spot, Kankakee will host Crete-Monee in a regular season finale to decide the Southland Athletic Conference. It will be the seventh straight season in which the winner of this meeting decides the winner of the Southland. Both teams are averaging more than 50 points per game over the last six weeks and boast some of the most athletic talents across the Class 5A/6A landscape.

Another longstanding rivalry unfolds a few dozen miles northwest, as Wilmington and Coal City, both of whom have won their first five Illinois Central Eight Conference games by at least four touchdowns, meet up in Wilmington to determine the ICE. It’s the third straight year the winner of this meeting will have determined the conference champion, with Wilmington winning the last two.

Weekend’s best

Here are the Daily Journal area’s passing, rushing and receiving leaders for Week 8:

Passing

• Dierks Neukomm, Milford/Cissna Park: 15-of-32, 314 yards, 2 TDs
• Erick Castillo, Momence: 20-of-31, 309 yards, 5 TDs; 86 rushing yards
• Phillip Turner, Kankakee: 15-of-22, 254 yards, 3 TDs
• Brady Shule, Clifton Central: 12-of-23, 221 yards, 3 TDs
• Ellis Johnson, Bradley-Bourbonnais: 10-of-19, 214 yards, 4 TDs

Rushing

• Quinton Thompsen, St. Anne: 17 carries, 233 yards, 4 TDs
• Logan Natyshok, Coal City: 11 carries, 152 yards, 3 TDs
• Ryan Kettman, Wilmington: 8 carries, 130 yards, 3 TDs
• Frankie Shervino, Watseka: 14 carries, 104 yards; 50-yard passing TD
• Ky’ren Edmon, Bradley-Bourbonnais: 11 carries, 102 yards, TD

Receiving

• Jayden Dau, Momence: 7 receptions, 174 yards, 2 TDs
• Lyzale Edmon, Bradley-Bourbonnais: 4 receptions, 163 yards, 3 TDs
• Derek Meier, Clifton Central: 5 receptions, 125 yards, 2 TDs
• Cedric Terrell III, Kankakee: 9 receptions, 116 yards, 2 TDs; 77 rushing yards, rushing TD; 3-yard passing TD; 77-yard kickoff return TD
• Ezekiel Sherrod, Kankakee: 4 receptions, 111 yards, TD