Kappel, Wheeling defense stand tall against Buffalo Grove

Wheeling is known for its dynamic running duo of Jalen Dennis and Jason Shannon.

But defense kept the Wildcats' postseason dream alive on Friday night.

The Wildcats forced 4 turnovers, 2 of them on Johnny Kappel interceptions, in a 17-0 win over Buffalo Grove.

"Turnovers were huge in tonight's game," said Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk. "All of their coaches are superstars, so it is hard win against a team like that when you turnover the ball over. On the defensive side, we preached to get turnovers and we didn't get any. Getting turnovers helped up in previous games. Three-and-outs are great, but if you are not giving the ball back to your offense, you are not doing your job either."

The Bison defense only allowed 3 points of their own through three quarters, but eventually the Dennis and Shannon combo proved to be too much.

The two combined for 167 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 40 carries. Shannon dashed his way through the Bison defense on an 11-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. With five minutes to go, Dennis bulldozed his way into the end zone on a 1-yarder.

"We knew if we kept pounding the ball, they were eventually going to break," Shannon said. "That is what they did, and we were able to score because of it. Our offense was not executing the first half, so we knew that we had to execute in the second if we wanted to win."

Although Buffalo Grove was shut out, its defense held tough for most of the game. They held Shannon and Dennis to 42 yard on the ground in the first half. They also had a huge stop in the second quarter, and almost forced kicker Quintero to miss a 28-yard field goal.

"Our game plan was to contain Dennis and I thought we did a pretty good job of that," Vlk said. "I wanted to take him out of the game and force them the ball into the hands of other players. They have other good players, but he is the difference-maker. We did a lot of contain drills during the week just to prepare to play against a very fast and mobile quarterback."

However, two interceptions within minutes of one another were too much to overcome. Johnny Kappel read the eyes of quarterback Connor Adams and jumped a slant route for an interception late in the fourth quarter with his team up 10-0.

"(Kappel) is an excellent player," Shannon said. "He is a excellent leader on the field. He definitely led this team tonight."

While Wheeling stays in contention to earn a playoff spot, the Bison are officially out of the postseason picture.

"It is tough for the seniors," Vlk said. "It stinks, especially for our seniors, because they know that they only have two games left, but we will keep coaching them.

"We told our guys that (our season) is not over. Although we cannot promise you a Week 10, we can promise you a week seven, week eight and week nine. Now our focus shifts to Elk Grove."