Kaneland holds Yorkville to 1 first down in shutout

Kaneland controlled the time of possession and its defense shut down Yorkville during Friday's Western Sun Conference game as the Knights ended their regular season with a 10-0 victory.

Kaneland (6-3 overall, 5-2 WSC) managed the ball a whopping 32:31 while the Foxes only had it for 15:29.

"We knew after playing all these rain games that we'd have to control the ball and take care of it and move the chains," Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly said. "I'm not sure how much time we held onto the ball, but it seemed like a lot."

Neither team could get much going offensively on the muddy field, but unlike the Foxes, the Knights were able to move the ball at times.

"A little bit out of the ordinary for us but we knew the field was going to be bad," Kaneland quarterback Joe Camiliere said. "It was a game of field management, holding onto the ball and keeping the defense on the sideline. They did a nice job of leaving us with a short field."

Camiliere completed 8 of 8 passes in the first half, and also kept a lot of drives going on the ground. He finished with 24 carries for 54 yards, while Blake Serpa (15 carries, 58 yards) and Tyler Andrews (7 carries, 21 yards) also contributed.

The Knights finally found the end zone on their third possession. Camiliere connected on an 18-yard pass to Tyler Callaghan and an 11-yard strike to Tyler Andrews on a drive that culminated on Serpa's 3-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the second quarter.

It would prove to be all the scoring the Kaneland defense would need. They forced the Foxes to 4 consecutive 3-and-outs to open the game, yielded only 1 first down all contest and only gave up 73 total yards of offense.

"The defense really stepped up," Fedderly said. "We really laid it on them and they played very well today."

There were times in the second half when the Knights were close to expanding their lead, only to see a couple long drives thwarted. The Knights came up empty on both an 11-play and a 10-play drive in the third quarter.

A little breathing room was finally enjoyed on the Kaneland sideline with 5:33 remaining. After a bad snap led to a 1-yard punt that gave the Knights the ball at the Yorkville 24-yard line, the Knights once again couldn't get into the end zone, but this time were able to turn to freshman kicker Chad Swieca who booted a 19-yard field goal for a 10-0 advantage.

"He's a nice looking freshman isn't he?," Fedderly said. "And he made a big field goal in overtime against Geneva so we're really happy with how he's coming around."