It was a tale of two halves last Friday night when West Prairie/Southeastern hosted Peoria Heights in an Illinois 8-Man Football Association Central West matchup.
Unfortunately for the Cyclones, a furious fourth quarter rally fell short as the visiting Patriots escaped with a 26-18 victory.
It was the first win of the year for Peoria Heights (1-4, 1-2) while WP/SE fell to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Central West.
Peoria Heights wasted no time in taking the lead as senior Deondrae Mack returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown. Mack also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Patriots an early 8-0 lead.
WP/SE would answer quickly on its first drive as the Cyclones needed only three plays to get on the scoreboard.
Facing a third-and-3 at the WP/SE 41, junior running back Brysen Tanner broke a couple of tackles in the backfield and sprinted 59 yards for a touchdown with 10:26 to go in the first quarter.
The two-point attempt was no good to leave the Cyclones down 8-6.
The WP/SE defense would get the back ball a short time later when sophomore Hayden Wilcox picked off a Maddix Callister pass to give the Cyclones the ball at the 50.
WP/SE drove down to the Peoria Heights’ 28 before Mack intercepted a Peyton Totten pass and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown with 4:16 left in the opening quarter.
The two-point conversion attempt failed to keep the score at 14-6.
Another Cyclones’ turnover with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter would set up another Patriots’ score.
Facing second-and-13 at their own 37, Tanner was hit from behind and fumbled the ball where it was recovered by Kaiden Boles to give Peoria Heights a first down at the WP/SE 35.
A pass from Callister to Mack got the ball down to the three-yard line where Mack ran in his third touchdown of the period with 1:52 to go.
The two-point pass attempt was incomplete as the Patriots would take a 20-6 advantage into the second quarter.
WP/SE drove the ball down to the Peoria Heights’ 42 on its opening possession of the second quarter, but on fourth-and-14, a Wilcox pass intended for tight end Gannon Shipman was intercepted by Callister to give the Patriots the ball at their own 28.
Peoria Heights needed only two plays to reach paydirt as Mack broke free and rambled 68 yards for his fourth touchdown of the game with 7:23 left in the first half. Another two-point attempt failed to leave the score at 26-6.
The Cyclones would march down the field on their next series before the Patriots’ defense would stop them at the Peoria Heights 27 with just under two minutes remaining in the half.
Peoria Heights would hang on to the ball and head into the locker room with the20point advantage at halftime.
Neither team could mount any scoring threats in the third quarter as the Patriots maintained their advantage heading into the final stanza.
Peoria Heights, after starting at its own 33, drove the ball deep into WP/SE territory early in the fourth quarter before Ruger Olson picked off a Callister pass to stop the drive and give the ball to Cyclones at their own 17.
On second-and-15, Wilcox found Tanner wide open on the right side and the speedy junior hauled in the pass and scampered 75 yards for the touchdown with 8:28 left in the game.
WP/SE failed on the two-point attempt once again to keep it 26-12.
The Cyclones’ defense would force the Patriots to punt on their next possession and WP/SE would take over at its own 12 with 3:27 remaining.
A Wilcox to Olson pass two plays later netted 31 yards to get into Peoria Heights territory at the 45. Wilcox then connected with Tanner for an 18-yard gain before the duo hooked up again for a 23-yard touchdown with just 1:51 to go.
The Cyclones failed on the two-point attempt to leave the score 26-18.
WP/SE tried an onside kick, but the Patriots recovered near midfield and were able to run out the clock to pick up their first victory.
Despite their poor start, WP/SE head coach Mark Benson was pleased with his team’s performance in the second half.
“We came out and made some adjustments,” said Benson. “We knew we needed to get the defense out of the box so we spread it out. It’s not something we’ve worked on a lot, but the boys reacted well. That definitely paid off.”
The Cyclones amassed 320 yards of total offense, 159 yards rushing and 161 yards passing, despite three first-half turnovers.
Tanner led the ground attack with 59 yards on eight carries and one touchdown while Wilcox finished with 49 yards on eight carries.
Keith Szabo added 35 yards on 11 carries and Clarence Billingsley had eight carries for 26 yards.
Wilcox also went 6-for-13 through the air for 159 yards and two touchdowns as Tanner was his leading target with 4 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Wilcox) is getting better at throwing the ball,” said Benson of his southpaw quarterback. “We started the year kind of rough in the throwing category, but we’ve worked hard at it and it’s paying off. I think we’re going to just keep getting better every week.”
The WP/SE defense held Peoria Heights to just 151 yards of total offense. Mack led the way with four touchdowns including 95 yards rushing on 10 carries and two scores.
Mack also finished with three catches for 70 yards. WP/SE will host Central West foe Galva (1-4, 0-3) this Friday night as the Cyclones celebrate homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Colchester.
“Big week... I think Galva is kind of a bubble team,” said Benson. “They’re supposed to be pretty good and they play a tough schedule. We’re just going to get ready and do our best to give them a good show and see how many points we can put on the board Friday night.”
