After a moment of silence was held pre-game for teammate Landon Cromer, the Macomb High football squad honored Landon the best way they knew how.
On the field. The Bombers built 20-0 lead by halftime on the way to posting a 27-6 victory over visiting Illini West in Macomb’s home opener at MHS Stadium.
The Bombers improved to 3-0 on the season, 2-0 in LincolnLand Large School Division play.
Illini West slipped to 2-1 overall, 1-1 in division contests.
“I love these kids,” said MHS coach Tanner Horrell. “They’ve gone through so much as a group. We miss Landon and wish he was playing with us.”
“Those kids left it out there in his honor,” he added. “I know it’s a football game, but I think he’d be looking down proud of what his best friends did.”
It was two years to the day that Cromer, a freshman, died from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident.
“I told everybody ‘Every play is for (Landon),’” said junior running back/linebacker Drake May. “He should be here. He should be on the field.”
“As much as we could do, playing every snap at full speed for him, that’s the bare minimum,” he added. “He should be here and I think that’s why we played so hard.”
The Bomber defense wasted little time in setting the tone.
On the sixth play from scrimmage junior Carter Havens intercepted an Ethan Carlisle pass and returned it 54 yards for the touchdown.
“I was just reading the quarterback’s eyes,” Havens said. “I saw the out route they were looking for and I just read the ball and I made the play.”
Illini West went threeand- out on its next series and was forced to punt.
Starting from their own 20, the Bombers needed just six plays to score.
A 26-yard run by May on the first play was just the beginning.
Kaden Knupp connected with Havens for a 15-yard pass, but May had five carries for 65 yards on the drive, including a six-yard touchdown run.
Hayden Katz added the point-after-touchdown kick, and the Bombers led 13-0 at the 3:24 mark of the first quarter.
The game’s next score did not come until the final minute before halftime.
Starting at its own 37, Macomb drove 63 yards in 11 plays, a drive that used up nearly five minutes.
Knupp’s one-yard run and Katz’s PAT kick put the Bombers up 20-0 with 50.9 seconds left before intermission.
Macomb took the opening kickoff of the second half, covering 36 yards in the first three plays.
But the drive stalled when the Bombers were flagged for holding on three separate plays in a four-play span, two that wiped out would-be touchdowns.
Katz attempted a 38-yard field goal that had the distance, but was wide left.
The Chargers then put together their best offensive drive of the night.
Starting at their own 21, the Chargers used 10 running plays in reaching the Macomb 24.
But a pair of illegal procedure calls, along with a delay of game penalty put the Chargers in a fourth-and-14 situation from the Bomber 33.
Carlisle threw a pass that was intercepted by Nolan Hoge inside the five-yard line.
Hoge took two steps, only to get the ball stripped by Illini West running back Isiah Knotts, who fell on the ball in the endzone.
After a meeting of the officials, the play was ruled a touchdown.
The PAT failed, but the Bomber lead was sliced to 20-6 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
“We were really mad about that call. It wasn’t really on the refs, but it was one of those, like a ‘Dang,’” said May of the Charger touchdown. “So we got really mad about that and we just wanted to finish this game, get it over with and just be able to get the win.”
The Bombers responded by driving 65 yards in seven plays with May scoring from two yards out with 18 seconds to go in the period.
Katz booted the PAT that set the eventual final score.
“They did a great job of rebounding after that,” said Horrell of the Charger touchdown. “The game could’ve got a lot closer after that, but our offense stepped up and took the ball down the field getting a touchdown.”
“The kids are resilient,” he added. “I think they do a really good job of just staying focused on the now.”
“We talk about ‘next snap’ and forgetting about what happened on the last play,” said Horrell. “There’s a new play coming up.”
“Sometimes I need to remind myself of that.”
The Bombers finished with 272 yards rushing on 35 carries.
“The line did an outstanding job of opening up holes,” said Horrell.
May finished with 153 yards on 20 carries.
“I love defense,” said May. “If I go further, I might want to play defense. But I love running the ball and getting into the endzone. That’s one of those things that you can never beat on a Friday night under the lights.”
Knupp added 108 yards on 13 carries. He also completed 5-of-13 passes for 78 yards.
Drew Watson finished with four catches for 63 yards.
The Chargers had 170 yards rushing on 40 carries. Knotts tallied 105 yards on 22 carries.
Carlisle finished 2-of-8 passing for 12 yards and four interceptions, including two by Watson.
May and Jeshua McPheetrs topped the MHS tackle chart, posting 17 and 13 total tackles respectively.
Hoge added eight, followed by Cameron Keene (seven), Watson, Kyler Norton and Blaze Howell (six apiece).
“Everybody on that defense did their assignment all night long,” said May. “That’s what got us that win. It was everybody, not just one person.”
“This game was for Landon,” said Havens. “That was our motivation for this game. We really proved it. We played until the end and showed what Bomber football is.”
The Bombers return to the road next week, heading to Manlius for a division contest against Bureau Valley.
The Storm are 0-3 on the season with losses to Peru St. Bede (47-6), Annawan/ Wethersfield (49-10) and Knoxville (31-8).
“We’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game because we’re going to get their best shot,” said Horrell of Bureau Valley.
“We just take it game by game,” May added. “We’re just trying to win all of them from here on out like we have been.”
“It’s a new week every week,” he said. “It’s a new opponent. We just have to get ready to go out there and fight.”
Horrell admits being pleasantly surprised by the team’s 3-0 start, but he also understands there is plenty of work that needs to be done moving forward.
“If I’m being honest, we’re a little ahead of schedule I think,” he said. “We have a lot of new faces this year, so we weren’t quite sure what we were going to get. And what we have gotten so far has been outstanding.”
“But we can’t let this be the peak,” Horrell added. “We have to keep getting better and better. We have some tough games coming up and we want to be peaking in week nine.”
