Josh Puleo didn’t just kick Sycamore past Cahokia. He booted the Spartans right into the postseason.

The Spartans qualified for their seventh straight postseason and will open the Class 5A playoffs at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cary-Grove.

The Spartans picked up win No. 5 in dramatic fashion, coming from being down 14 points to winning 30-28 over the Comanches in Week 9.

In July, coach Joe Ryan said this would be his last season leading the Spartans.

“I told them they aren’t getting rid of me yet,” Ryan said. “That’s awesome, but I want to keep coaching as long as I can this year with this group, then go from there. All the credit to these kids. They did a great job.”

On that final fourth-quarter drive, the ball was downed all the way back on the Sycamore 14-yard line with 5:30 remaining on the clock. The three-headed running attack of seniors Kevin Lee and Cooper Bode, along with junior Liam Arhos, ran the ball down to the Cahokia 20-yard line. The drive consisted of 14 plays, mostly led by Arhos, who had nine rushes during the drive.

One mishap saw quarterback Griffen Larsen recover a fumble to keep the drive alive. On fourth-and-9 with 32.1 seconds remaining, the Comanches jumped offsides, giving Puleo a shorter game-winning field goal. The junior said he was ready for the moment.

“I am always ready for that. You just have to put [the pressure] behind you and go out there and do it,” Puleo said. “It was good. I just wanted to celebrate with my team and go home and get ready for the playoffs.”

Arhos led the way with 212 yards rushing on 20 carries, which included runs of 60 and 58 yards, respectively. Lee had 27 rushes for 135 yards and that second-quarter touchdown, while Bode scored three rushing touchdowns and finished with 53 yards on 10 carries.

Kaneland 55, Altoff 28: At Maple Park, the Knights not only wrapped up a home playoff game and prevented the defending 1A champs from reaching the postseason, they avenged a 14-10 loss from last year in emphatic fashion.

The Knights will host Lakes at 5 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Against the Crusaders, quarterback Jalen Carter ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns and threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Carter Grabowski ran 27 times for 238 yards and a touchdown in the win.

“Almost everything worked good tonight,” Grabowski said. “The running game looked good. The passing game, the screens worked really well. The trick play at the end was something we worked on at practice. We set it up all game.”

West Carroll 43, Hiawatha 26: At West Carroll, the loss didn’t end the Hawks’ season, as they finished 5-4 and will face Polo in the first round of the playoffs.

The Hawks and Marcos played in Week 8, with Polo rolling to a 54-14 win.

Waubonsie Valley 49, DeKalb 28: At Aurora, the Barbs finished the year 2-7 after falling to the Warriors. The school’s all-time leading pass catcher and Illinois commit Davon Grant missed the game with an illness.

Quarterback Cole Latimer had 256 passing yards despite the team missing Grant. Derrion Straughter had five catches for 91 yards, and Jack Rosenow had seven for 93.

Most of the playmakers for the Barbs, including Latimer, Owen Sisson, Straughter, Grant and Rosenow, are seniors.

Schneeman said he was proud of the way his team, especially the seniors, battled all year.

“Win-loss-wise, it wasn’t where we wanted to be, but at the same time, I think we made progress from last year,” Schneeman said. “Our kids bought in, had a good offseason. If you look at our stats, they’re better offensively. We did a better job running the ball. We played a tough schedule.

“But we have to raise the bar and find a way to meet the level of competition we are seeing.”

Dixon 58, Genoa-Kingston 20: At Dixon, the season came to an end for the Cogs (4-5).

The Cogs scored three touchdowns against the Dukes, something only Byron had done before Friday.

“You’ve got to make tackles,” GK coach Cam Davekos said. “Offensively, we were able to put some motion in the game, use misdirection to catch them off-guard here and there, and take opportunities when they arose. Obviously, turning the ball over a couple of times put us back, but we battled back, and our offense did their thing and did their best.”

Three of the five Cogs losses were by a touchdown.

• Ty Reynolds, Chris Walker and Travis Zuellig contributed to this report.