Immaculate Conception storms past Bureau Valley
If visiting Bureau Valley had any chance of getting back into Saturday's Class 2A football quarterfinal contest, it needed to stop Immaculate Conception on its fourth-down run and get something going late in the second quarter.
The third-seeded Storm, which brought a 10-1 record into the game at Wheaton College, did come up with a big stop to take the ball away from a potent Knights' attack that had jumped ahead 20-0. But on the very next play Immaculate Conception's Carlos Rodriquez intercepted John King's pass and returned the ball 30 yards to the Storm's 35.
What little hope the visitors had of getting back into the contest was dashed three plays later when Rodriquez's 9-yard TD run made the score 27-0. It was the first of two scores for the junior running back/linebacker, who broke off a 78-yard run in the second half of the Knights' 41-8 triumph.
"We just always play with a high intensity in the playoffs," said Rodriquez, whose stellar play on both sides of the ball helped power IC to the semifinals next week against Clifton Central. "The way they were talking and saying they'd crush us, we thought it would be a closer game."
By now the rest of the state should be well aware that the No. 15 Knights are not your normal 5-4 playoff qualifier. IC heads to the semifinals having outscored three playoff opponents 126-36. Quarterback Will Cronin has seemingly gotten better every week this season, and he has two great backs to hand off to - Rodriquez had 155 yards and two scores against the Storm, while Paul Hornstra added 85 yards and a TD on just 7 runs.
"We watched them on film and we were confident, but we thought they looked pretty tough on film," said Cronin, who stunned Bureau Valley by guiding the Knights to 4 TD drives in the first half without having to punt the ball. "Right away it gave us huge momentum to jump on them."
The Knights took the opening kick off and drove 61 yards - all on the ground - with Cronin opening the scoring on a 2-yard keeper. On its second drive IC got the Storm defense to bite on a fake handoff, with Cronin hooking up with a wide-open Antonio Taylor for a 61-yard score and a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
"Will Cronin has all the tools," Knights coach Bill Schmidt said. "And that (fast start) has been our trademark thus far in the playoffs. I'm very happy with the way we executed on offense."
Bureau Valley picked up its 10th win on the year in a 12-6, four-overtime defensive battle last week. On Saturday the Knights amassed 480 yards of total offense and averaged better than 81/2 yards on 40 rushes against the Storm defense.
"Some people thought that because we were the 15th seed and were 5-4 that we'd lose our first game," Rodriquez said. "We showed them."