Blake Kersting scores TDs on offense, defense, boosts Yorkville past Plainfield East

Yorkville senior Blake Kersting

YORKVILLE – Blake Kersting has worn many hats in three varsity seasons at Yorkville.

As a sophomore, he played free safety. He put on close to 30 pounds of muscle last year, and transitioned to an outside linebacker/safety hybrid role. Now Kersting is more of an inside linebacker. He also holds for kicks, and this season is getting reps at wide receiver.

Son of a coach, wherever Kersting lines up, he seems to make plays. That was certainly the case on Thursday.

Kersting returned an interception for a touchdown, and made a spectacular grab for a touchdown catch, both coming in the second quarter. Those two plays helped spark the Foxes, who went on to a 40-20 win over visiting Plainfield East in the Southwest Prairie Conference crossover.

Scoring touchdowns on both sides of the ball was indeed a first, which Kersting chose not to brag on.

“Never done that before,” Kersting said with a slight grin. “It’s pretty cool, but I’m trying not to focus on that. Just making the plays that I need to make and doing what my coach is telling me to do.”

For a full-time linebacker Kersting is proving to be quite the pass-catching threat, with TD receptions in each of Yorkville’s first four games. He laid out for a diving catch and 15-yard TD reception from Michael Dopart (13 for 22, 147 yards) in the final minute of the first half Thursday to give Yorkville a 19-0 halftime lead.

“His intelligence helps him in that respect, his game knowledge, but also his hands,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “I have no idea how he caught that ball. There are a couple this year that I don’t know he caught them. Very impressive, that’s for sure.”

So was Kersting’s pick-six. He sat back and read Plainfield East quarterback Brandon Parades’ progression perfectly, stepped in front of a short pass, and was off to the races for a 28-yard return and 12-0 lead with 7:11 left in the half.

“Coach told me to sit and relax when the quarterback runs out of the pocket,” Kersting said. “I was just reading the quarterback’s eyes, caught the ball and ran.”

It was the highlight of another dominant performance by the Yorkville defense. The Foxes (4-0) held Plainfield East (1-3) to just six total yards and three first downs through three quarters. Kersting and Luke Zook had interceptions and Yorkville had five sacks, three from Jake Davies and two from Andrew Laurich. Laurich’s sack of Parades for a safety started the game’s scoring.

“Really impressed with how our defensive line played tonight,” McGuire said. “They rose to the occasion.”

Plainfield East, trailing 33-0, finally got on the board with Armani McFerren’s 80-yard kickoff return for a TD. Parades, 8-for-20 passing for 131 yards and two interceptions, later threw an 80-yard TD pass to Walter Johnson III.

The banged-up Bengals were without injured receivers Quinn Morris and Kameron Hopkins, who had combined for 18 catches in Week 3. Starting right tackle Aiden Rodgers was taken to the emergency room during school Thursday. Plainfield East coach Brad Kunz wasn’t even sure up until Wednesday if Parades could go this week with a hurt foot.

“I think those two receivers out left a vacuum that we thought we could fill,” Kunz said. “We got a lot of stuff going on, stuff beyond our control. We’re taking punches. These back-to-back Thursday night games make it tough on everyone.”

Indeed, Yorkville itself was without starting running back Gio Zeman, wearing a boot with what McGuire believed to be a sprained foot. Amani Kortie, a 330-pound defensive lineman, sat out with a broken hand.

Without Zeman, Yorkville’s offense took a while to get on track Thursday. But it picked up steam as the game progressed.

Kersting’s touchdown catch was the first of four straight Yorkville possessions that ended with TDs, including the first three of the second half.

Ben Alvarez took in a 4-yard TD run, Josh Gettemy caught a 17-yard TD pass from Kyle Stevens, and Stevens connected with Dominick Coronado for a 23-yard score.

Gettemy, filling in for Zeman, ran for 145 yards on 20 carries, 95 of his yards coming in the second half.

“Last week Gio was banged up, it’s that next-man-up mentality,” Gettemy said. “We really started to figure it out as the game progressed, started trusting each other. I really haven’t had a ton of carries, been more part of the receiving game. But once I figured it out, it was time to go.”

Plainfield East doesn’t need to look far back to figure out how to bounce back from a 1-3 start. The Bengals also started 1-3 in 2019 and 2021, and rebounded to make the playoffs each time.

“We still have a tough conference to play, tough games ahead,” Kunz said. “The biggest thing for us is to get healthy.”