Plainfield South stymies Plainfield Central, 26-0

PLAINFIELD – It would have been easy for the casual observer to label Plainfield South’s 26-0 win over Plainfield Central as the Cougars winning ugly.

But to Cougars coach Bill Bicker, it truly was a work of art.

“We had to get back to the way we’ve been winning football games the past few years,” Bicker said. “The defense turns the other team over two or three times, plays suffocating defense, and then we pound the ball a little bit.

“This was how we scripted the game today.”

Plainfield South’s defensive unit actually overdelivered on Bicker’s expectations, turning Plainfield Central over six times.

The first two turnovers both led to Cougars’ points.

After Plainfield South’s first drive stalled inside the Plainfield Central 30-yard line and led to a turnover on downs, the Cougars got on the board when Jacob Russell picked off a pass and saw nothing but green grass in front of him for a 32-yard score.

“I was scared because during Romeoville basically the same thing happened, and it slipped right through my hands,” Russell said. “But I was able to read that and I got it, ran down the sideline and scored.”

Plainfield Central wasn’t able to regroup from that mishap and then compounded the problem with a botched snap three plays into its next possession, one which the Cougars recovered at the Plainfield Central 10. Brian Stanton powered in from the 1-yard line, and Plainfield South held a 13-0 lead without generating much offense at all.

“We knew their defense was good,” Bicker said. “So we knew we were going to need turnovers to help us with field position to take over the game. Credit to our defense and our defensive staff. We had a great week coming into this week, and we knew we had a great week. As long as we translated that to the game, we thought we’d be fine.”

Plainfield South’s defense didn’t take any breaks either. Plainfield Central never got a running game going, finishing with only two first-half rushing yards, and without a few positive gains late in the contest would have finished with negative rushing yards.

And when the Cougars weren’t making plays for negative yards, they were netting more turnovers. Plainfield South added a fumble recovery before the break and interceptions from Russell and Stanton put them well on their way to a shutout.

“We’ve found our identity defensively, and it feels like we’re peaking,” Bicker said.

Plainfield South stretched its advantage with a pair of touchdown passes from Connor Folliard to Caden Pierceall. The first was a 46-yard catch and carry just before halftime, and the second from 15 yards in the fourth quarter to completely settle the outcome if it hadn’t been already.

Stanton finished with 104 yards rushing but had to work to reach the century mark, getting there on his 26th and last carry of the day.

The win put Plainfield South in firm control of the Southwest Prairie East race, moving them to 4-3 overall and a spotless 3-0 in conference play. But Bicker is quick to point out things are far from settled in regards to the Cougars potentially hoisting a conference crown.

“We have to continue to take it week by week,” Bicker said. “But it is nice to know that if we continue to take care of business, we should still be in good shape.”

Although the loss likely dashed any chances Plainfield Central had at defending its SPC East title, all isn’t lost for the Wildcats. The loss dropped them to 3-4 on the season, but their remaining two opponents (Romeoville and Joliet Central) are a combined 1-13, and it seems more than possible that Plainfield Central can get to the five-win plateau.