Field goal in final minute lifts Fieldcrest past Eureka in state-ranked showdown

EUREKA – Fieldcrest’s Jacob Joyal believed if he got a shot at redemption Saturday night during the Knights’ showdown of state-ranked teams, he’d come through.

And that’s exactly what he did.

After missing a potential game-tying extra point wide left late in the third quarter, the Knights’ senior fullback/linebacker/kicker booted a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 26.8 seconds remaining. His clutch kick lifted Fieldcrest (3-0) to a dramatic 16-14 victory over the also-ranked Hornets (2-1) in the Heart of Illinois Conference Veterans Bowl showdown at McCollum Field.

“I was struggling with cramps this game,” said Joyal, who spent much of the second half getting stretched out on the sideline. “But Coach asked me if I was good, and I told him yeah.

“My grandma passed a little while ago, and I prayed to her on the [field goal]. Grace of God, she was looking down on me, and she helped me make it.

“It was a huge victory for us, and I’m so proud of these guys.”

Trailing, 14-13, as time wound down, the Knights faced a fourth-and-2 at the Eureka 5-yard line after driving from their own 49.

With weapons the caliber of receiver/running back Jaxon Cusac-McKay (37 yards, 1 TD rushing; 10 receptions for 81 yards), quarterback Cory Land (72 yards rushing; 18 of 33 for 170 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs passing) and Henry Lorton (five receptions for 85 yards and a TD), Knights head coach Mike Freeman – who repeatedly asked his offense go for it on fourth-and-short, with two turnovers on downs leading directly to Eureka scores – had to consider going for the two yards and would-be first down.

Instead, he turned to Joyal, who – set up by a saving snap and placement from holder Lorton – drilled the winner between the uprights with a line drive.

“I told him from the minute he missed [the third-quarter extra point] battling cramps, he knew he was better than [that miss], and we knew he was better than that,” Freeman said. “We never wavered on what we believed Jacob could do.”

Aside from a game-opening, 15-play drive, which chewed up 80 yards and ended in a 1-yard Cusac-McKay score out of the Wildcat (Joyal kick good) and a third-quarter 50-yard scoring strike in which Land found Lorton open on the flat and the speedy senior raced up the west sideline to pay dirt (Joyal kick wide left), the Knights offense struggled sustaining drives against the Hornets.

Fieldcrest’s offense was held to 289 yards of offense, saw two drives end on interceptions by Land’s Eureka counterpart, Matthew Martin, and was halted twice on failed fourth-down tries on their own end.

The Knights defense, though, kept them in the game using relentless pressure on Martin and controlling the point of attack to limit the high-powered Hornets to only 217 yards from scrimmage – led by Martin’s 166 yards on 14-of-28 passing and 50 yards on eight carries by Hunter Gladson.

A 16-yard Martin-to-Elijah Skutt touchdown toss with 4:40 to play before halftime was followed by a 25-yard Martin-to-Micah Senior score. Both extra points were good, but other than those two short-field scores, the Knights defense held strong led by performances of Jordan Hochecker (sack, two tackles for loss), Zach Cremer (1 1/2 sacks, one tackle for loss), Isaac Morse (sack, tackle for loss) and Lorton (interception, pass defense).

“This was our playoff. This was our conference championship. This is everything we thought it was going to be, and we played Fieldcrest football, and that’s why we came out victorious.”

—  Fieldcrest football coach Mike Freeman

After Joyal’s field goal, the Hornets had time to run four plays and try for their own shot at redemption. But a 4-yard pass and three incompletions, the last batted down by Lorton, was all Eureka’s offense could manage.

The Knights retained the Veterans Bowl trophy and remained undefeated with one game left in the COVID-19 shortened season, next Friday at home against El Paso-Gridley.

“This was our playoff. This was our conference championship,” Freeman said. “This is everything we thought it was going to be – and we played Fieldcrest football, and that’s why we came out victorious. Our family rises above. I couldn’t be more thankful, and God was with us.

“I couldn’t be more proud of what we’re doing out here.”