Light late-game rain and a carousel of opposing quarterbacks couldn’t stop the Milledgeville Missiles from keeping their unbeaten season alive as the Illinois 8-Man Football Association’s No. 1 seed.

South Beloit came to Floyd Daub Field and held the Missiles to their season low in points scored in a game, but it wasn’t enough in a 22-6 Missiles win in a playoff quarterfinal.

Not helping the Missiles (11-0) were 10 penalties for 80 yards, but mistakes in the first half by the Sobos (8-3) proved costly: their ground game led to two fumbles that each eventually led to a 14-0 Missiles lead two minutes before halftime.

Cleaning up the penalties will be a point of emphasis for the Missiles coming into their semifinal game.

“We didn’t play our best game, and I give credit to South Beloit, they came to play,” Missiles coach Jason Wroble said. “They’re physical, they took away things that we usually do, and we didn’t execute all that well with 10 penalties, and you can’t do that in the playoffs. South Beloit played a great game and our guys responded when we had to.”

After both teams exchanged fourth-down turnovers to start the game, the Sobos coughed up the ball at the Missiles’ 20 with 2:16 left in the first quarter with senior Konnor Johnson recovering. The turnover led to a methodical drive with senior Spencer Nye capping it with eight straight rushing plays, scoring on a 1-yard run with 8:20 in the first half for an 8-0 lead after a successful two-point run by senior Evan Schenck.

Schenck had the Missiles’ second fumble recovery with 3:30 left in the half at the Sobos’ 49, and he capped the following drive with a 9-yard touchdown a 1:59 for a 14-0 lead.

The Sobos found the scoreboard with 53.5 left in the half on senior Kaden Cook’s 28-yard reception from classmate Landon Reed. The pair of Sobos earlier connected for a 38-yard pass play in the first quarter with the roles reversed.

Nye added a passing touchdown in the third quarter on a 31-yard strike to senior Karter Livengood at 6:24 for the final 22-6 lead.

“It was difficult and they were really physical and hard to bring down, but we got it done in the end,” Nye said. “We’ll have to clean up the penalties for either Amboy or Pawnee next week because they are both two really good teams.”

After Cook came up with an interception with 11 minutes left in the game, freshman Gage Pasiecznik became the Sobos’ third signal caller and connected with Cook on successive strikes of 23 and 29 yards, and added one more for 11 to get to the Missiles’ 22 with 8:30 left. After an incompletion on third down, Pasiecznik’s pass to the end zone was deflected there by junior Jayden Promenschenkel for the game’s final turnover. The Missiles milked the clock from there.

“I saw [the receiver] go out and saw the quarterback rolling out,” Promenschenkel said. “I saw the ball and went up for it. You need that out there to not let them get any momentum.”

Nye led the Missiles’ rush attack with 135 yards on 24 carries, and added three of the Missiles’ eight backfield stops on defense.

“During our season in 11 games we’ve had a lot of momentum swings, and that’s what our team keys on,” Nye said of the final turnover. “If they make a big play, we fight for the next big play and make it ours. We’ll reverse the roles and make sure we get the next big play.”