It was a wet One

It was rainy. It was cold. It was wet. It was miserable. But the Yorkvillle Foxes didn't care as they came into Kaneland with high hopes of winning a football game. A win they really needed if they had any hopes of making the playoffs.

But it took the Knights only 54 seconds to let the team in Red and white know that they were not going to go home happy. Just two plays after the opening kickoff Kyle Schrader busted through the Yorkville defense and sprinted 46 yards for Kaneland's first score of the night.

But the Foxes on their next possession marched right back going 68 yards in 5 plays ending with QB Tim Zaspal hitting his favorite target 6-4 senior Matt Brown from 15 yards out. The score was set up by a nifty 50 yard run by Derrick King. The kick failed and the Knights had a slim 1 point lead and the Foxes had hope.

But with the rain that just coming down harder the Knights drove right back down field amazingly having success in the air despite the extremely poor weather conditions.

"We knew we had to come out and throw the ball," said coach Joe Thorgesen. "I think you can throw in the rain if you've got an experienced kid at quarterback. The receivers know where their going."

And it worked as the Knights scored again, this time on a 10 yard fade from Eric Delaney to P.J. Fleck.

That's when the Knights defense dug in, giving the Foxes nowhere to run. The first quarter ended with the Kaneland holding a slim 14-6

By the time the second quarter got rolling Delaney ran a quarterback sneak from 1 yard out and the Knights were up 15. The next time Kaneland got the ball Delaney had it slip out of hands for the second time in the game and for the second time in the game center Adam Schultz fell on it, keeping the offense on the field.

A few minutes later Schrader was crossing the goal line yet again and the Knights had comfortable 28-6 lead.

But the Foxes King was not to be denied as the slippery tailback broke loose from the Kaneland defense for a 77 yard touchdown run. The Foxes went for the 2 point conversion and on an end around play they were able to cut the lead to 28-14.

Kaneland worked down field and finally got to the Yorkville 10 yard line with 8.6 seconds left in the half, but two passes into the end zone failed to connect keeping the score 28-14 at intermission.

In the second half both teams turned a little conservative and as a result it took the Knights almost 8 minutes until Delaney was able to swing outside and run 8 yards for the Knights 5th touchdown. Josh Dimitri who was doing a splendid job of kicking in the rain missed this extra point for a 35-14 score.

The rest of the game was played between the 20's until the Knights added their final score in the fourth quarter when junior Mike Merfeld bursted through the line and ran 80 yards for the ending tally.

Despite Fleck's many acrobatic and Pro type catches Delaney's marksmanship and Schrader's impressive runs, there where Knight heroes everywhere. Offensive guards Keith Snyder and Will Schmidt where following sophomore center Schultz's example of text book blocking blowing big holes for Schrader to run through.

Sophomore Shawn Fuller upped his level of play at defensive end to continue to lead the Knights in sacks, only to leave the game with a dislocated shoulder. Kurt Long with a busted right hand could not carry the ball but played his usual great defense with a huge cast.

Junior Colin Nolin was playing the middle linebacker spot like Dick Butkus and sophomore Ben Rogers has moved from safety to corner to do a super job in solidifying the defensive back field due to the loss of senior Shaun Wenz who is injured.

And in only his second start at linebacker Aaron Berkland came up big time again and again.

When the night was over Delaney had passed for 175 yards hitting 10 of 18 attempts - 8 of them to Fleck. Fleck had 166 passing yards while Schrader added 118 yards on 21 rushs.

The Knights had 402 total yards to the Foxes 263. Yorkville had only 15 yards passing on 1 completion.

But if you can get your hands on a video tape of the game, your in for a treat just watching the circus grabs of one P.J. Fleck.

The Sophomore Knights won for the first time this season 14-6. After a scoreless first half Tim Morris intercepted a Yorkville pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown. Then in the final quarter quarter a bad snap on a Yorkville punt got the Knights the ball on the 2 yard line. Two plays later the Knights where up 14-0.

The Foxes scored their lone TD later in the quarter, but it was to little to late.

football . Top . Home . Email