Bucs end it for Wauconda Bulldogs
BELVIDERE -- Over eight minutes had elapsed in the first quarter of Wauconda's Class 5A opening round playoff game at Belvidere Friday night, and everything was working as planned for the Bulldogs.
Wauconda had just marched 74 yards in 16 plays on the opening drive of the game and capped it off like they had most drives during the 2007 season with a Brad Wisniewski touchdown run.
It was the perfect start to the Bulldogs' first trip to the state playoffs in nearly a decade.
"We all worked so hard together as a team on that drive," Wisniewski said. "We wanted it so much and to come out like we did was great."
Unfortunately, the finish was not what Wauconda had envisioned.
The eighth-seeded Bucs shut out Wauconda in the second half en route to a 53-25 win. Belvidere will face the winner of Saturday's first-round game between Johnsburg and Robeson next week. Wauconda closed the season 7-3.
"In the end, the better team won tonight and that was Belvidere," Wauconda coach Glen Kozlowski said. "They made some great plays and did the things they had to in the game."
Belvidere (8-2) wasted very little time answering the Wauconda score. The Bucs produced a short 86-second burst that ended on a Tirus Harris 46-yard scoring play.
Harris and teammate Patrick O'Brien were too much for the Bulldogs. O'Brien rushed for 3 scores and 149 yards.
"Our offensive line did a great job tonight and we were able to run our offense effectively," said Belvidere quarterback Kyle Tevebaugh. "We made some great adjustments on defense and came out on top."
Just as quickly as Wauconda had control of the game, the bounces started to go the other way.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-13 but decided to fake the punt and keep the drive alive. Instead, Wauconda's Chris Jahnke was hit hard by the Bucs' special teams, popping the ball up in the air. It landed right in the hands of Phil Czechowicz of Belvidere, who took it back the rest of the way 42 yards for the score and a 21-13 advantage.
The bad bounces wouldn't stop there.
After Wauconda answered with a 22-yard scoring run by Jason Holst, Belvidere got one final bounce just before halftime that turned out to be a backbreaker.
On third-and-9 from his own 21, Tevebaugh threw a pass that hit one Wauconda defender in the hands, then a Belvidere player in the helmet before hitting yet another Wauconda player in the hands. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the last person the ball hit was Charles Chatman of Belvidere and he raced away with it 79 yards for the score and a 36-25 halftime advantage.
"Things really started to bounce for them and not for us, but what can you do," Kozlowski said. "The game started turning into a shootout and we are a running team and aren't designed for that kind of game."
Belvidere stiffened on defense in the second half, limiting Wauconda to just 92 yards after the Bulldogs amassed 238 in the first half. The Bucs scored on two of their first three possessions in the second half to ice it.
Wisniewski closed out his brilliant career at Wauconda by running for 98 yards on 32 carries.
"This has really been such a special group of seniors that have been a part of this program," Kozlowski said. "A guy like Brad is a special kid and he deserves to be playing Division I football next year."