It was a tough weekend for Little Illini Conference football teams. The LIC went a collective 1-4 in the first round of the IHSA playoffs. Only Casey-Westfield won to advance on to the Round of 16.
The Warriors blanked Red Hill, 35-0, on Saturday night in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament. Elsewhere, Marshall fell to ALAH (Arthur-Lovington, Atwood-Hammond) in Class 2A, 27-14, Mt. Carmel lost to Tolono Unity in 3A, 42-14, Olney was defeated by Jacksonville in 4A, 49-39, and back in 3A, Paris was eliminated by Monticello, 48-16.
The shutout win was Casey-Westfield’s first of the season, and third by an LIC team this year (the other two being Paris’ season-opening 57-0 win over North Vermillion, Ind. and Mt. Carmel’s 35-0 LIC win over Marshall in Week 8). QB Nolan Clement fired two first-half touchdown passes as the Warriors were in control by halftime, 21-0. With the win, Casey-Westfield improved to 8-2 on the season. The Warriors will host Nokomis (7-3) at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 in the second round. The Redskins defeated Tuscola, 28-19, in their playoff opener.
Marshall, which finished 5-5 overall after qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2017, could not stop the balanced ALAH attack. Four different players scored touchdowns for the Knights (10-0), who led 20-0 at the end of the first quarter. Marshall RB Lucca Giannavola rushed for 142 yards against ALAH, bringing his three-year Lions career to a close with 2,740 yards and 39 touchdowns on the ground.
Mt. Carmel (5-5) fell behind Tolono Unity in the game’s first 90 seconds and never recovered. The deficit was 42-0 by halftime before the Golden Aces regrouped with two second-half touchdowns to account for the final score. the Rockets held Mt. Carmel RB Elliott Acree to 65 yards rushing yards, denying him a second consecutive 1,000-yard mark season. Still, the senior finished his Aces career with 2,526 yards.
League champion Olney (9-1) trailed Jacksonville, 34-12, before staging a dramatic rally to pull to within one score in the fourth quarter. But, the Crimson held on to pin Olney with its’ first defeat of the year. Tigers QB Gavyn Cothern threw for a season-high 308 yards, while adding 106 yards on the ground. He finished his career with 3,205 rushing yards and 49 touchdowns to go with 2,679 passing yards and 30 aerial TDs. Thus, Cothern has accounted for 5,884 total yards, and has been a part of 79 touchdowns in his two-year career.
Paris (6-4) took an early lead 8-0 against Monticello on an 11-yard touchdown run by Carter Crippes, but the Sages regrouped to lead, 20-8, by halftime. Crippes was held to 27 yards on the ground, but QB Brayden Rogers threw for 96 yards to lead the Tigers. The 48 points was Monticello’s highest output of the season. The Sages improved to 8-2 on the season.
Some of the statistics used in this report are unofficial.
