By Dennis Clark
The Tribune-Star
Oblong, Ill.
October 11, 2008 11:49 pm
—
Oblong must have felt like the guy portrayed in the old classic cartoon. He leaves the automobile dealership proud of his new shiny, spiffy-looking car, but just a few miles down the road, parts start falling off one after another, after another, after another.
While actually outplaying Class 2A No. 1 ranked Casey to a scoreless standstill in the first quarter — giving their large home crowd hopes of a major upset — the wheels figuratively fell off of Oblong in the second quarter.
Casey (7-0, 6-0 in LIC) proceeded to prove their ranking worthy, blowing out the host Panthers 55-0 in a Little Illini Conference high school football game at Ron Welsh Field on Saturday afternoon.
After stopping the Warriors on their first possession of the game, Oblong — despite two false start penalties to begin the drive — drove 68 yards in 10 plays down to the Casey 2 in the waning moments of the first quarter.
But on fourth-down-and-goal, Oblong (2-5, 1-5) quarterback Elija Plummer — who completed 4-of-5 passes for 67 yards in that opening drive — was intercepted by Casey’s Taylor Biggs in the back of the end zone. That served as the trigger for bad things to happen quickly to the Panthers.
To wit:
n On the first play of the second quarter, Biggs scampered 66 yards for a quick touchdown. Casey led 7-0.
n Three plays later, Oblong was forced to punt from their 16-yard line, but the ball was snapped over the punter’s head the back of the end zone for a safety. Casey led 9-0.
n After returning the ensuing punt to the Oblong 39, Casey scored six plays later, the touchdown a 3-yard run by Jason Clapp. Casey led 16-0.
n One play later, Plummer was intercepted again, this time by linebacker Nate Sandiford, who returned the ball 35 yards for a TD. Casey led 22-0.
n Oblong’s next series ended at their 10. Following a nice punt return, Casey was back in business at the Oblong 27. On the first play, Mitch Snyder hooked up with Aaron Rhoads for a 27-yard TD. Casey led 28-0.
n Three plays later, Plummer was intercepted for a third time, this one by Seth Brewer. Three plays later, Snyder hooked up with Rhoads for a second TD, this one of 35 yards. Casey led 35-0.
“We came out in the first quarter fired up,” Oblong coach Gary Plummer said. “Like I told the kids, [Casey] was subbing in the first quarter. But there’s so much depth there, we couldn’t hang with them. You know, a good team like they are can pile up the points in a hurry.”
In a hurry indeed. Casey vaulted ahead 35-0 heading into intermission with less than 10 minutes of clock time elapsed.
The Warriors’ momentum continued in the second half, culminating a 12-play, 59-yard drive with Snyder’s 1-yard sneak for a 41-0 lead. After a such promising start by Oblong, now the game went mercifully into the running clock category.
“I think Oblong knew for the playoffs they were going to about have to win out their season,” stated Casey coach Keith Sinclair. “I think they came to play a good ballgame. I thought their first quarter was excellent.
“But we were able to get some things going and that kind of took a little spirit out of them.”
Casey outgained Oblong “just” 301 to 110 in total offense. The Warriors’ margin was smaller, despite a 55-0 win, due to running just five plays in their own end of the field until the waning moments of the game.
Individually, Casey’s Snyder threw for 141 yards. Four of those catches were by Rhoads for 105 yards and three touchdowns. Conversely, after a hot start, Plummer finished just 9-of-18 for 82 yards with four interceptions.
A key reason for Casey winning the field position battle related directly to their kicker Clinton Scott. In the middle of the game, he booted six straight kickoffs into the end zone resulting in touchbacks.
“We’re playing very well, but we have many concerns,” Sinclair added. “We have to really get a lot better doing some things to progress up the ladder in the playoff system. To even have a chance to reach what we’ve done the last couple of years, we’ve got a long way to go to be the type of team we’ve been in the past.”
Asked if being ranked No. 1 is a distraction, Sinclair admitted, “Being No. 1 is not good and we’ve been there about all year. Because your kids start thinking it and it’s harder to get their best efforts at times.”
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