Can't catch Buschbacher, Kaneland
Quinn Buschbacher wanted to make some memories in his final regular season home game at Kaneland. Turns out he might have rewrote the record book.
Buschbacher hauled in five touchdown receptions three in the first quarter as the Knights stayed perfect on the season with a 45-7 victory over Yorkville.
Kaneland (7-0, 3-0), the No. 7 ranked team in Class 6A, didn't like having to come from behind to beat DeKalb last week. Quarterback Drew David helped set the tone early, connecting on his first 8 passes as the Knights jumped to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
David finished 14 of 20 passing for 274 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions, giving him 27 TDs and 1,904 yards passing in his sophomore season. Buschbacher was his favorite target Friday with 8 grabs for 150 yards.
Buschbacher now has 16 touchdowns in 7 games, 11 of them receiving touchdowns.
Knights coach Tom Fedderly thought that Casey Crosby had set the Kaneland record for receiving touchdowns in a game during his 13-catch, 217-yard epic in a 2006 playoff win at North Chicago.
But a quick check of that 2006 game story showed Crosby with 1 of his 5 touchdowns coming on a run, leaving him one receiving touchdown behind Buschbacher's unforgettable senior night Friday.
"I'd say this is No. 1, the top, the peak," Buschbacher said. "This means a lot to me. Senior night I just thought about it and it was my last regular season game at Peterson Field and I wanted to make it memorable somehow. There was no way we were going to lose."
Buschbacher made sure of that, using a double move to break free down the right sideline on Kaneland's first possession and haul in a 49-yard pass from David.
Buschbacher's next two touchdown grabs were shorter, 15 and 17 yards, as Yorkville (4-3, 0-3) had no answer for Kaneland's bubble screen. Buschbacher's line blocked well on those plays, and running back Jesse Balluff also helped free Buschbacher with some crushing blocks.
"It's a great play when we can execute," Fedderly said. "It takes all 11 guys to do it. It's not just about Quinn. Obviously he's a great playmaker but we have to have all our guys execute. It's something we practice quite a bit. Jesse Ballufff has done a great job of blocking on that as all our line does."
Matt Rodriguez booted a 41-yard field goal for the only scoring in the second quarter to put the Knights ahead 24-0 at halftime.
Yorkville's Neil O'Brien (23 carries, 115 yards) put the Foxes on the board with a 38-yard touchdown run in the third quarter on a drive kept alive by a Knights personal foul penalty after they had held Yorkville on third down.
The Foxes followed with an apparent fumble recovery and what looked like a bid to get back into the game. But officials ruled an inadvertent whistle had blown before Yorkville recovered the fumble. The Knights kept the ball, and five plays later Buschbacher was in the end zone again with a 13-yard reception and 31-7 lead.
Buschbacher's 12-yard TD reception on another bubble screen put Kaneland ahead 38-7 going to the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Ryan Fuchs capped the scoring with a 1-yard run with a 1:48 left on a drive he and Dan Goress combined for 59 rushing yards.
"I'm proud of our seniors," Fedderly said. "It was a big night for them."
A week after allowing 38 points to DeKalb with 10 of the points given up by offensive miscues Kaneland's defense held Yorkville to 19 yards passing and 182 yards of offense.
Jake Razo picked off a pair of passes and recovered a fumble. He now has 6 interceptions this year.
"We felt like we needed to make another statement," Razo said. "That was a tough conference game against DeKalb last week. They played us hard at their place. We wanted to say what our defense is about. We're not about giving up 38 points. We're about keeping teams under 7, under 14 points and we did that tonight."