Bess-Henning, St. Francis trick Woodstock on first play en route to lopsided 2nd round 5A win

St. Francis receiver Greg Bess-Henning’s junior season hasn’t been an easy one.

He fractured his right collarbone during a 7-on-7 game during the summer, then broke it again early in the season.

Bess-Henning missed six games before returning to action in Week 8.

“Shout out to my doctors that helped me and motivated me to come back,” Bess-Henning said. “With that injury, a lot of kids don’t come back right away.

“Football is a dangerous game. (Injuries) just come with being hit.”

It didn’t take long for Bess-Henning and the Spartans to hit Woodstock with some razzle-dazzle to match the sparklingly sunny sky on Saturday in Wheaton.

On the first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Jadon Wilson found a wide-open Bess-Henning for a 51-yard touchdown on a flea flicker just 13 seconds into the game.

It was the beginning of a virtuoso performance by the Spartans, who scored on their first six possessions en route to beating the seventh-seeded Blue Streaks 42-14 in a Class 5A second-round game.

Defending state champion St. Francis (7-5) travels to sixth-seeded Cary-Grove (9-2) in next week’s quarterfinals.

“That’s a new play that we just put in,” Bess-Henning said of the flea flicker. “We watched on film how hard their DBs come down on the run and so we wanted to try some new.”

The play began with senior running back Tivias Caldwell Jr. taking a handoff from Wilson. Caldwell turned and tossed the ball back to Wilson, who saw Bess-Henning running 15 yards behind the defense.

“Once I caught it from Tivias, I seen nobody near Greg, so my eyes did light up,” Wilson said. “I just threw it as far as I could. Greg went to go get it.”

Bess-Henning caught the pass in stride and loped into the end zone.

“My mind was like, ‘Just don’t drop the ball,’” Bess-Henning said. “It felt good, just always being a friendly target to the quarterback.”

The quick strike set the tone, just as St. Francis coach Bob McMillen hoped it would.

“We literally worked on it all week,” McMillen said. “Every time we ran offense, that was the first play we ran.

“We had a little script that we wanted to do our first 5-6 plays. If that one didn’t work, we had a second one coming after that.”

Nearly everything went according to script for the Spartans.

Wilson, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, fired a 15-yard scoring strike to Noah Turner to make it 14-0.

Then it was Caldwell Jr.’s turn. He capped the next three possessions by scoring on runs of 1, 15 and 6 yards and finished with 137 yards on 17 carries.

“Our plan was just to execute,” Caldwell Jr. said. “Come out with the energy, play for each other, play as a family and a brotherhood.

“My O-line did very great. The defense did very great. It was just a great game overall.”

So great that the game went to a running clock after Noah Wasielewski’s one-yard touchdown run extended the Spartans’ lead to 42-0 with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Woodstock scored twice, including on a 55-yard hook-and-ladder play, against the St. Francis reserves.

Bess-Henning finished with four catches for 76 yards. He said he’s worked hard to build on the connection he and Wilson made during the off-season.

“It’s definitely a tough injury and Greg’s a tough player,” Wilson said. “So he kept working all summer and all fall and he came back from it.”

Perhaps better than ever.

“Ever since he came back, Greg’s been a high-impact player for us,” Caldwell Jr. said. “You can tell by his dedication and tenacity that he really wants it.

“It’s being shown. Even today — first play, 13 seconds in.”

More could be to come.

“He’s still trying to get his wind back,” McMillen said. “He’s still trying to get into football shape, but he’s a big player for us and we’ve got to continue to get him ready.

“He’s a tough kid and he’s really doing some good things for us.”