The favorites delivered dominant performances Friday night in the second round of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) football playoffs, while other teams needed late-game heroics to secure their spots in the quarterfinals.
East St. Louis, Prospect, Mount Carmel and Huntley all advanced with convincing victories. Prospect’s Matthew Donnelly accounted for six touchdowns, Huntley’s Chase Hojnacki rushed for 245 yards and four scores, and Mount Carmel quarterback Brady Cloherty put together a seven-touchdown first half.
The night also featured several close finishes, highlighted by Wheaton North‘s last-second touchdown to upset No. 2 Geneva, 36-35, in Class 6A.
Favorites Deliver Blowout Victories
East St. Louis continued its dominant postseason run with a 72-12 victory over St. Patrick in Class 7A. The Flyers have now scored 141 points through their first two playoff games, following a 69-0 opening-round win over Reavis.
Prospect also cruised into the quarterfinals, defeating Rockford Guilford 50-10. Donnelly led the way with six touchdowns, scoring four times on the ground and twice through the air.
In Class 8A, Mount Carmel shut out No. 24 Barrington 56-0. Cloherty accounted for all seven of his touchdowns in the first half, throwing six touchdown passes and adding another score on the ground.
Cloherty also broke Mount Carmel’s single-season school record for touchdown passes, reaching 46 for the year.
Huntley remained undefeated with a 42-0 victory over Lane. The Huntley offense has now put up over 40 points in ten of their eleven games played.
The Red Raiders recorded their fifth shutout of the season and set a school record with their 11th victory.
Close Games Deliver Late Drama
Not every team had an easy path to the quarterfinals.
No.7 New Trier edged No. 10 Homewood-Flossmoor 26-23 in Class 8A, earning its first quarterfinal appearance since 2014. Running back Throy Nightingale Jr. threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to John Baxter on a trick play to grab the lead back in the second half.
No. 4 Oswego also survived a close finish, holding off No.13 Naperville North 21-19. Senior fullback Luke Hernandez’s 49-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter stopped a Huskie comeback after they took a 14-0 lead at the half.
In Class 7A, Downers Grove North defeated St. Rita 17-7 to earn a quarterfinal berth. Downers Grove North’s defense pitched a shutout in a statement performance. St. Rita’s only points came on a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown. Grant Georgas’s 26-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter sealed the Trojans’ ticket to the quarterfinals
Wheaton North Stuns Geneva With Late Touchdown
The biggest surprise of the night came in Class 6A, where No. 7 Wheaton North pulled off a 36-35 upset of No. 2 Geneva.
The Falcons scored the game-winning touchdown with fewer than 10 seconds remaining, when Johnny Clayton reeled in Grant Neibch’s pass from seventeen yards out. completing a dramatic comeback against a team that had beaten them 42-14 just five weeks ago.
Wheaton North flipped the result when it mattered most, knocking off one of the class’s top seeds and advancing to the quarterfinals.
The victory capped a night that featured dominant performances from several favorites, standout individual efforts, and a last-second finish that changed the Class 6A playoff picture.
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