Johnsburg routs Harvard to become playoff eligible

JOHNSBURG – Five weeks ago, this might not have seemed possible.

Coming off three straight losses in which it gave up 54 points or more, the idea of 1-3 Johnsburg even qualifying for the playoffs seemed implausible – that is for everyone except the Skyhawks themselves.

Led by a small yet determined group of seniors, Johnsburg regrouped and refocused to the point that when those seniors made their final walk around the field on senior night, they were allowed to think about playing again next week.

Johnsburg won for the fourth time in the last five weeks by defeating Harvard 48-12 to become playoff eligible for the first time since 2018. Now 5-4 (2-3 in the Kishwaukee River/Interstate Eight Blue), the Skyhawks await Saturday’s announcement of the playoff pairings.

“We flipped a switch,” said Ian Boal, one of those seniors. “We decided that this year it was time to turn it around. And we did. I feel like we have a good chance of making the playoffs now, and we can do something with it. It’s something we haven’t been able to do in the past few years. It’s nice to flip it around.”

This particular win included contributions from all three phases of the game, starting with Boal himself. On the third play of the game, he picked off a Landon Barnett pass and ran 44 yards for a score to get things rolling.

Harvard (0-9, 0-5) made a solid attempt early to make things interesting. On the next possession, Hornets running back Evan Martin broke free on a 44-yard touchdown run to make it 7-6. Shortly thereafter, they recovered a well-executed onside kick and advanced to the Johnsburg 21 late in the first period.

However, after a big tackle for loss on third down, an incomplete pass on fourth down gave the ball to the Johnsburg offense for the first time.

The Skyhawks and quarterback A.J. Bravieri ball and ran with it, scoring on their first four possessions to all but put the game away at 35-6. Bravieri had three of his four touchdown passes in that span, including a 44-yard pass to Boal, an 11-yarder to Cade Piggott, and a 20-yarder to Jake Metze.

Bravieri was 8-of-14 passing for 184 yards, including three receptions for 80 yards to Boal and two to Piggott for 51 yards, both of which were touchdowns.

“After the interception for the touchdown, it was not the start we wanted with our specials and giving up a score,” said Johnsburg coach Sam Lesniak. “But we bounced back, made an adjustment, and like I said, the kids just responded to adversity really well. They never let the mojo go and kept battling and came up with a couple of big plays.”

Special teams contributed its score when Metze, another of those seniors, broke free on a 70-yard punt return.

“In the postseason we are going to need that, all three phases,” Metze said.

“It was all about the leadership. We got a lot of young guys on this team, and we have a lot of seniors that step up as leaders. And that’s all we needed.”

Martin did have a solid game for the Hornets, finishing with 130 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns. Daniel Rosas added 57 yards on eight carries.