Trailing at halftime in a game for the first time in four weeks, how the Bushnell- Prairie City High School football team responded to the challenge was uncertain.
But after trailing 20-16 at the break, the Spartans controlled the second half on the way to defeating host Galva 42-20 in Illinois 8-Man Football Association (I8FA) Central West Division contest.
B-PC won its fourth straight game, upping its record to 4-1 overall, 3-0 in I8FA Central West Division play.
Galva, celebrating its Homecoming, slipped to 1-4 overall, 0-3 in Central West play.
“I think we definitely needed a game like this,” said B-PC coach Jacob Schisler. “We kind of got punched in the mouth early and made a few mistakes, but we didn’t let that affect us.”
“Big wins are great,” he added. “But it’s the games like this that make us better as a team.”
The Wildcats struck first when M.J. Louck returned a Spartan punt 70 yards for the game’s first score midway through the opening quarter.
Braxton Hulstrom added the two-point conversion run, giving the host an 8-0 lead.
Dylan King fumbled on B-PC’s next offensive play with Hulstrom recovering for Galva at the Spartan 35. But the Spartan defense stiffened, allowing one first down before the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at the B-PC 18.
Jonavan Harrell started B-PC’s next drive with a 12-yard run. Then, on the opening play of the second period, he broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run.
He added the conversion run to knot the contest at 8-8 13 seconds into the quarter.
Galva answered by driving 47 yards on seven plays in retaking the lead. Drayce Powe’s 14-yard score at the 8:17 mark, gave the Wildcats a 14-8 lead.
Powell had five carries for 28 yards on the drive for Galva.
The Spartans scored on their next offensive play as Harrell broke free for a 65-yard score. Quarterback Thomas Anderson then connected with Braylon Griffitts for the two-point conversion, giving the Sparatns a 16-14 advantage with 8:03 remaining before halftime.
Galva answered by driving 79 yards in 16 plays, using all but the final 19 seconds of the second quarter clock.
The Wildcats converted two third downs and two fourth downs on the drive. Facing a second-and-21 from the B-PC 25, Louck lofted a pass to an open Reid Harris in the end zone for the score with19.7 seconds left.
The PAT run failed, but the Wildcats took a 20-16 lead into the break.
“I told the guys at halftime that we can’t hang our heads, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” said Schisler. “We’ve just got to go out and respond in the second half.”
“It took us a bit, but we got things going,” he added.
The turnaround started with the defense. Griffitts forced a Harlem Young fumble that was recovered by Keegan Gillette at the Spartan 31.
Two plays later, Harrell scored his third TD of the night on a 63-yard run. Gillette’s PAT run gave B-PC a 24-20 lead.
But the work for the Spartans was far from finished.
After an exchange of possessions left Galva with the ball at its own 15, Zaedin Hart forced a Young fumble that was recovered by Andre Watts at the Wildcat 31.
Gillette’s 6-yard TD run capped a threeplay drive in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, giving B-PC a 30-20 lead.
Galva’s next drive ended in a Louck fumble with Watts recovering for the Spartans at the Wildcat 7.
King scored from there two plays later, upping the Spartan advantage to 36-20 with 8:36 to go.
The Spartans capped the game’s scoring in the final minute when Zaedin Hart blocked a Galva punt and recovered it in the end zone for the touchdown.
B-PC recorded 301 yards rushing on 25 carries.
Harrell finished with 232 yards and three TDs on 12 carries. King added 49 yards and one score on eight carries, while Gillette had 20 yards and a score on five carries.
Anderson was 3-of-4 passing for 26 yards. Griffitts had 21 yards on two catches, while Zaedin Hart had one catch for five years.
Defensively, Harrell had 15 total tackles, while Griffitts, Gillette and Zaedin Hart all added 11 total tackles apiece.
King added seven total tackles, including three sacks and two tackles-for-loss, while Zaedin Hart also had two sacks and two tackles-for-loss.
Landon Lear added six tackles and Hunter Thompson five.
“I’m extremely proud of every single athlete on our team,” said Schisler.
Galva recorded 96 yards rushing on 54 carries. While Powe had 15 carries for 69 yards and Young 59 yards on 19 carries, the remainder of the team had 20 carries for minus 32 yards.
Galva QBs combined to complete 5-of-10 passes 78 yards.
Louck was 4-of-8 for 66 yards and one TD. Powe had two catches for 17 yards, Harris had two catches for 37 yards.
The Spartans will be back on the road for the third consecutive week on Sept. 25, heading to Biggsville to face West Central.
It will also be Homecoming for Heat, who will enter play with a 4-0 overall record, 2-0 in Central West play.
With I8FA teams playing nine games in a 10 week schedule, the Heat had their bye week last week and did not play.
