Anyone who’s played the last two installments of EA Sports’ College Football video game series has bemoaned, and probably lost a game or two, to the shaky kicking mechanics that are triggered by the meme-worthy Stadium Pulse feature, meant to simulate the difficulty for college kickers in hostile road environments.
Sure, Tristan Randall and Reed-Custer were the home team in Friday’s Illinois Central Eight Conference matchup against Peotone. But if there was a video game mechanism to adequately provide perspective on attempting a game-winning field goal at the buzzer, it probably wouldn’t be far off from booting one as a visitor at Michigan’s Big House or LSU’s Death Valley.
Randall stayed locked in as he drilled a 32-yarder at the horn to give the Comets a pivotal 31-28 win over the Blue Devils in a game that’s only further tightened the third-place battle in the ICE (more on that later). A member of the Comets soccer team Saturday-Thursday, Randall throws on the pads on Fridays to help give Reed-Custer a special teams boost. And last Friday, it paid off.
Quick recap
Here are the area’s scores from Week 6:
Bishop McNamara 49, Marian Central 13
Kankakee 64, Rich Township 24
Lincoln-Way Central 28, Bradley-Bourbonnais 20
Wilmington 47, Thornton 0
Coal City 55, Manteno 0
Reed-Custer 31, Peotone 28
Herscher 28, Streator 14
Westville 37, Clifton Central 14
Salt Fork 16, Momence 14
Bismarck-Henning 50, Watseka 7
Georgetown-Ridge Farm 20, Iroquois West 12
St. Anne 54, Unity Christian/Mt. Pulaski 12
Milford/Cissna Park 52, Meridian 30
Action heating up in the ICE
Reed-Custer’s buzzer-beating win only further bunched up the group of ICE teams that are flirting with playoff qualification through Week 6. The Comets and Blue Devils are now both 3-3, as is Manteno, while Herscher has a little more breathing room at 4-2.
The Comets are already essentially 4-3, as they’re set to receive a Week 9 forfeit win via Lisle, which did not field a team this year. Those forfeit wins are already baked into the win totals for Herscher and Peotone while Manteno elected to pick up a nonconference game at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley this week in lieu of a forfeit win.
The Tigers visit the Comets as well this week in what’s essentially a win and you’re in matchup. With Manteno visiting Peotone for the Rumble on Route 50 rivalry next week and both Peotone’s trip to Herscher and the probable de facto conference title game between Coal City and host Wilmington in Week 9, there couldn’t be more entertainment than what the ICE promises over the final third of the season.
And then there was one
The Kankakee area entered Week 6 with a trio of undefeated teams in Bishop McNamara, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Clifton Central, with the former the lone team to make it to this week unblemished.
The Boilermakers and Comets both fell in primetime conference matchups, something McNamara has coming up in each of the next two weeks. The Fightin’ Irish visit Wheaton Academy this week and fellow 6-0 Hope Academy the following week. If they can return home for their Week 9 tilt with St. Edward still perfect, not many teams will want to see the Irish in their playoff bracket, whether it’s in Class 3A or 4A.
The Boilers fell behind by three scores in the second half to Lincoln-Way Central, with a late fourth quarter surge coming up a touchdown short. If the team that showed up in the fourth quarter – much like the team that showed up the first five weeks – then the Boilers have a shot at winning out, including a pivotal Week 8 trip to unblemished Lincoln-Way West.
The Comets were in the thick of their game at Westville through the half before the Tigers, who entered the week with the state’s best scoring offense, pulled away. With a good chance of winning their last three games, look for Clifton Central to enter the Class 1A postseason as one of the teams with the best chance at a championship.
Weekend’s best
Here are the area’s passing, rushing and receiving leaders from Week 6:
Passing
Dierks Neukomm, Milford/Cissna Park: 13-of-22 passing, 221 yards, 4 TDs; 153 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs
Ellis Johnson, Bradley-Bourbonnais: 19-of-36 passing, 215 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
Phillip Turner, Kankakee: 12-of-17 passing, 211 yards, 4 TDs; 147 rushing yards, rushing TD
Tanner Jones, Herscher: 10-of-21 passing, 176 yards, 2 TDs; rushing TD
Connor Henline, Coal City: 8-of-10 passing, 152 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing
Julius May, Bishop McNamara: 5 carries, 169 yards, 2 TDs; sack
Ryan Kettman, Wilmington: 14 carries, 145 yards, 2 TDs
Grant Pomaranski, St. Anne: 7 carries, 144 yards, 2 TDs; 7-of-17 passing, 90 yards, 2 TDs
Quinton Thompsen, St. Anne: 10 carries, 111 yards, 3 TDs
Logan Natyshok, Coal City: 8 carries, 103 yards, 2 TDs; 50-yard TD reception
Receiving