Wilmington grinds out physical win over Coal City

Colin James’ 46-yard TD run to start the fourth quarter powered the Wildcats to their 22nd straight victory

Wilmingtons Colin James runs the ball during a game against Coal City  Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 ,at Wilmington High School

WILMINGTON — Entering Friday night’s game against Illinois Central Eight and rival Coal City, defending Class 2A state champion Wilmington was riding a 21-game winning streak dating back to when the Wildcats went 5-0 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

But, when two longtime rivals get together, Wilmington coach Jeff Reents knows that records and winning streaks become secondary. The task is to fight off the spirited challenge that you know that arch-rival is going to bring.

The Coalers certainly did bring a challenge, and made Wilmington fight every second for a 17-7 victory to give the Wildcats (3-0, 1-0) their 22nd straight win.

Both offenses struggled to find yardage in the first half before Wilmington took advantage of a partially blocked punt and took over at the Coaler 31. Seven straight running plays got them to the 1-yard line before Coal City stopped quarterback Ryder Meents on a sneak attempt on second down. On third down, it looked like the Coalers stopped the sneak again, but Meents was ruled in for the touchdown and Reid Juster’s extra point gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead, which they took into halftime.

Coal City received the opening kick in the second half and drove 70 yards on 12 plays with Drake Dearth scoring from a yard out. Key plays in the drive were a 12-yard scramble by quarterback Braden Reilly on third-and-5, and then a 21-yard pickup by sophomore Landin Benson, who finished with 100 yards on 24 carries. Braiden Young’s kick tied it at 7, which is how the third quarter ended.

Wilmingtons Zach Willis Sacks Coal Citys Braden Reilly during a game against  Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 ,at Wilmington High School

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Colin James took a handoff on a counter and sprinted 46 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 Wildcat lead.

“That’s how our offense works,” James said. “We get two yards, two yards, four yards, then 40 yards. I had a great hole to run through. The offensive line did all the hard work. I did the easy part. I just had to run as fast as I could.”

James finished with 106 yards on 22 carries, while teammate Kyle Farrell had 83 yards on 18 attempts.

Wilmington's Ryder Meents scans the field Friday, Sept. 9, 2022, at Wilmington High School.

“Our offense and Coal City’s defense had a war tonight,” Reents said. “When you have two teams that know each other so well, you expect a game like this. It was physical and we are happy to come out of it 3-0.

“Give Coal City a lot of credit. Their back [Benson] runs hard and he’s just a sophomore so he’s going to be a good one for them. Their defense gave us a hard time, but [offensive coordinator] Barry [Southall] made a great call on that counter to start the fourth quarter and it broke for a score.”

Coal City had the ball at its own 36 with 6:24 left, but fumbled on second down and Wilmington’s Kade Hopwood recovered. The Wildcats got a 23-yard field goal from Juster with 1:29 remaining to seal the victory.

“Our guys gave a great effort,” Coal City coach Francis Loughran said. “In Week 1, we weren’t very physical, but the last two weeks, we have been much more physical and that was good to see. The defense did a great job against a very good Wilmington offense.

“The offense got going a little bit in the second half. In the first half, we weren’t controlling the line of scrimmage very well, but we did a better job of that in the second half.”