Fulton shuts out Rockford Lutheran, pulls away for 1A second-round playoff victory

After a defensive slugfest in the first half Saturday, Fulton pulled away after halftime to defeat Rockford Lutheran 28-0 in their Class 1A second-round game in Rockford.

The teams played to a scoreless tie through the first quarter, and the Steamers took a 6-0 lead on Joel Ford’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 3:30 left in the second period. The score was set up by Brayden Dykstra’s 47-yard pass to Ethan Price.

[ Photos from Fulton vs. Rockford Lutheran Class 1A second-round playoff game ]

It was the defense that helped Fulton pull away in the second half. Baylen Damhoff intercepted a pass on Lutheran’s first possession of the third quarter, and that set up Ryan Eads’ 1-yard scoring run with 9:09 left in the third. Lukas Schroeder added a 1-yard touchdown run just three minutes later for a 20-0 lead, and Conner Sheridan put the game on ice with a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown with 6:50 remaining.

“We were opportunistic defensively, that’s for sure,” Fulton coach Patrick Lower said. “We played with the wind at our back in the third quarter and pinned them deep. Baylen got the interception and we were able to take it in from there. I thought we owned the third quarter, and I felt good about where we were at the time; even with them having the wind in the fourth quarter, we were still up three scores.”

It was the second straight game where the Steamers were able to pull away in the second half against a 1A team that plays primarily 3A and 4A teams in their conference during the regular seaosn. A week after shutting out Aurora Christian in the second half of its first-round playoff game, Fulton shut out Lutheran – which plays in the rough-and-tumble Big Northern Conference – for the whole game.

“The last two weeks, our kids have been able to go toe to toe with teams that play bigger competition,” Lower said. “When you say Big Northern, you know it’s good football. Our kids were able to do what we did today against a tough team in adverse conditions, and they handled any adversity that hit us and kept playing. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of.”

Schroeder ran for 146 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and Eads added 14 rushes for 41 yards and a score. Dykstra finished 3 for 8 passing for 84 yards.

Fulton returns home next week for a 1A quarterfinal game against Lena-Winslow in one of two battles between NUIC teams. Forreston hosts Dakota in the other North bracket quarterfinal.