PLAINFIELD – Plainfield Central’s confidence is growing as the Wildcats continue to win.

After finishing the spring season with three straight victories, the Wildcats won their second straight game to start the fall season, knocking off Yorkville, 28-13, in a Southwest Prairie Conference game Friday in Plainfield.

“I’m just proud of their effort,” Wildcats coach Rob Keane said. “We just told them to continue to play well together and communicate and do their jobs offensively and defensively as a unit, because 11 guys moving in the same direction is a powerful thing. They read their keys and were doing their jobs.

“Playing hard-nosed football for 48 minutes in this conference is no small feat.”

Their defense, with linebacker Philip Carlton seemingly everywhere, was outstanding.

“We just followed our game plan and focused on doing our jobs and not anyone else’s,” Carlton said. “Ethan Obeng on the outside, Daniel Hollis on that D-line, Damian [Jasso] in the middle – everyone was doing their job, and the energy was great. I love the team. This team is something special.”

Plainfield Central (2-0) took a 21-0 lead into halftime, punishing the Foxes for a late miscue by converting it into a touchdown just before the break. Zayn Zaidi recovered a fumble at the Yorkville 14-yard line before Aaron Larkin Jr. turned quarterback Connor Huffman’s screen pass into a 7-yard touchdown.

“They were obviously keying on me from last week, so we just needed to get me into a little space,” Larkin said. “Once they started flowing that way, the pass game opens up and the run game opens up, because they have to honor both.”

The Wildcats already had shown some of their other offensive weapons to build their initial lead, getting a beautifully placed pass from Huffman to Derek McClinon that the speedy wideout turned into a 90-yard touchdown a minute into the second quarter.

Yorkville (1-1) wasn’t doing much of anything offensively in the early going but trailed only 6-0 late in the first half.

That changed after DJ Pearson blasted into the end zone for a 1-yard score with 1:51 left. Then the Foxes fumbled the kickoff before recovering it at their own 15-yard-line, only to cough up the ball again and into Zaidi’s hands.

“There were some momentum swings here and there, and we just didn’t do ourselves any favors in terms of momentum in the first half,” Foxes coach Dan McGuire said. “I didn’t have us ready to play, and that’s 100% my fault when you make the types of mistakes we made.”

Larkin’s 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter extended Plainfield Central’s lead to 28-0. It ended up providing some breathing room as the Foxes pieced together a rally.

A few plays after quarterback Nathan Kraus scrambled for 19 yards and took a late hit, he lofted a 15-yard touchdown pass to DeTorrion Temple in the corner of the end zone with 8:31 left to play.

After a defensive stop, the Foxes again had a successful drive, one that culminated in an Andrew Laurich 1-yard touchdown run with 5:10 remaining.

But their offense didn’t see the field again.

“It was nice to do some things at the end there, but ultimately we’re not here to just hang around,” McGuire said. “So it was nice to complete some balls and do some things, but we were here to win, and we didn’t, and that’s 100% on me.”