Dixon comes up short at Winnebago; Oregon falls to Rockford Lutheran

The Dixon Dukes led late in their Big Northern Conference road game Friday night, but Winnebago scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to pull out a 29-25 victory over the Dukes.

Tyler Shaner had three touchdown passes, and Hunter Vacek returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a score for Dixon (3-2), which trailed 14-6 before Shaner connected with Rylan Ramsdell on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 47 seconds left in the first quarter to get within 14-12.

After a scoreless second period, Shaner hit Ethan Hays with an 18-yard scoring strike with 7:49 left in the third quarter to take an 18-14 lead, then Shaner and Hays hooked up again on a 24-yard TD pass with 3:20 left in the third for a 25-14 lead.

But Logan Olson, who caught a 42-yard TD pass earlier in the game, scored on an 11-yard run with 2:59 to play, then went in from 6 yards with 1:04 remaining as the Indians rallied for the win.

Rockford Lutheran 27, Oregon 6: The Hawks trailed just 7-6 late in the first half, but the Crusaders scored three unanswered touchdowns in a Big Northern Conference win.

Kyng Hughes ran for a touchdown and threw for another, and Arlin Moore Jr. had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs as the Crusaders outgained the Hawks 103-83 on the ground and 193-156 through the air.

Jack Washburn was 18-for-34 passing for 156 yards and two interceptions, and he also threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Josh Crandall with 7:58 left in the second quarter. Noah Reber had 40 yards on eight rushes for Oregon (1-4).

Hughes was 7-for-15 for 193 yards through the air, including a 52-yard scoring strike to Tresean Lockhart (2 catches, 101 yards) with 2:08 left in the third quarter. Hughes also ran in from 1 yard to open the scoring on the Crusaders’ opening drive.

Moore’s first touchdown run gave Lutheran a 13-6 lead with one minute left in the first half, and his second capped the scoring with 1:12 left in the third period.

Lena-Winslow 54, Fulton 32: After a tight first half, the Steamers (3-2, 3-1) couldn’t keep up with the Panthers after the break in an NUIC road loss.

Brayden Dykstra was 25-for-37 passing for 248 yards and three touchdowns for Fulton, and Baylen Damhoff had eight catches for 101 yards and two scores.

Dykstra connected with Damhoff on a 37-yard scoring strike to open the scoring with 7:30 left in the first quarter, then Lukas Schroeder scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter to make it 12-8 after Gage Dunker scored on a 43-yard run for Le-Win.

Gunar Lobdell ran in from 80 yards to give the Panthers a 16-12 lead, but the Steamers answered with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Dykstra to Ethan Price for a 19-16 lead with 4:50 left in the first half.

But Dunker scored from 24 yards out with 44 seconds left before halftime, then added a 13-yard TD run less than four minutes into the third quarter to make it 32-19 Le-Win. Lobdell tacked on a 77-yard scoring run, then Jake Zeal ran in from 51 yards out for a 46-19 lead with 2:13 left in the third quarter.

Schoreder ran in from 6 yards early in the fourth quarter, then Damhoff caught an 11-yard TD pass from Dykstra to end the scoring with 1:38 to play, after Dunker added his fourth TD run from 11 yards out with 6:55 remaining.

Joel Ford led Fulton with 38 yards on nine carries, and Schoreder added 28 yards on seven rushes. Ryan Eads ran for 24 yards and also caught six passes for 36 yards.

Lobdell had 238 yards on 11 rushes, and Dunker finished with 188 yards on 17 carries for Le-Win.

Eastland-Pearl City 40, Dakota 36: EPC quarterback Carsen Heeren went 7 for 11 for 259 yards with five total touchdowns to power the Wildcatz past the Indians.

Brady Sweitzer put Eastland-Pearl City (1-4) on the board with an 83-yard kickoff return touchdown.

Heeren followed with five touchdowns: four through the air and one on the ground.

Donovan Kuhlemier caught three of the four touchdown passes for 56, 61 and 67 yards. He finished with four receptions for 197 yards and three touchdowns. Max McCullough hauled in a 3-yard touchdown pass.

Heeren’s TD run was a 1-yard plunge.

Jaxson Kempel, Will Birchen and Levi Burkholder led the Wildcatz defense with 11 tackles each. Ethan Petta had a pair of interceptions, and Kempel and Hunter Miller also picked off passes.

Orion 27, Erie-Prophetstown 7: The Panthers (2-3, 1-2) stayed close through the first half, but the Chargers scored twice after halftime for a Three Rivers Rock win in Prophetstown.

Jase Grunder scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to cut the Erie-Prophetstown deficit to 14-7 at halftime, but Orion scored on its first possession of the second half, then tacked on another score in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

The Chargers took a 7-0 lead, scoring early in the game after stopping the Panthers on a fourth-and-short.

Decatur LSA 58, Milledgeville 56: The Missiles (3-2) came up just short in a wild eight-man game in Decatur.

Milledgeville trailed 26-22 after a high-scoring first quarter, then took a 30-26 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Decatur LSA answered to take a 32-30 lead at halftime.

The Missiles grabbed a 44-38 lead early in the third quarter, only to see Decatur LSA take a 46-44 lead midway through the third, then make it 52-44 with eight minutes left in the game.

Both teams scored a touchdown on their next possession, then Milledgeville scored again to get within 58-56 with six minutes remaining, but that’s where the comeback ended.