By Greg Halbleib and Bryan Bloodworth
Central Illinois will be heavily represented in the second round of the Illinois high school football playoffs after Central Catholic, Tri-Valley, LeRoy, GCMS and Fieldcrest earned first round wins on Saturday.
Central Catholic 27, DuQuoin 0
Central Catholic marched into the Class 3A second round with a home shutout of their Southern Illinois opponent. The Saints (9-1) hit the end zone in each quarter.
Brett Segobiano lead the Saints on the ground with 116 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Jake Baughman snuck in from a yard out for the remaining score. Central Catholic will travel to Paxton-Buckley-Loda for a second round matchup.
Peoria Notre Dame 43, Normal West 21
The victorious Irish (8-2) captured their second win of the season over the Wildcats (6-4) at Richwoods Stadium in a Class 6A opener.
Notre Dame opened the scoring early in the second quarter with the first of three Luke Shadid touchdowns, then took a 9-0 lead into the locker room on a 31-yard field goal by Braedon Blackford as the first half expired.
A 10-yard run by Shadid and an 11-yard scamper by Alex Shaw put the Irish ahead 22-0 midway through the third quarter, but the Wildcats found the end zone with just under four minutes remaining in the period on a 5-yard run by Dajour Forrest.
The teams traded scores in the fourth quarter as the Irish continued their ground game plan while the Wildcats went to the air in the damp conditions.
Shaw led the Irish with 212 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns while Shadid rushed 17 times for 111 yards. For Normal West, quarterback Mitch Fairfield completed 14 of 33 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown, Josh Gaddis caught three passes for 90 yards and the touchdown and Jack Coakley grabbed three catches for 83 yards. Forrest registerd 135 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns.
Peoria Notre Dame travels to Springfield to face Sacred Heart-Griffin in the second round.
Tri-Valley 22, West Carroll 0
Undefeated and top-ranked Tri-Valley stuck to the ground in rainy conditions Saturday to grind out a 22-0 home victory over West Carroll in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Running backs Hayden Long and Brock Danko along with quarterback Peyton Roop combined for 340 yards on 61 carries to push the Vikings record to 10-0 ahead of next week’s second-round game at Taylor Ridge-Rockridge.
Long finished with 166 yards on 20 carries and scored one touchdown, while Danko added 127 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns. Roop, whose only pass was nullified by a penalty, had 47 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Tri-Valley’s defense limited West Carroll to four yards rushing on 26 carries and 14 yards passing. The Thunder registered only two first downs and was in Vikings’ territory once when Tri-Valley’s fumbled the opening kickoff.
Danko scored Tri-Valley’s first two touchdowns in the first half on runs of 4 and 7 yards. Long scored the Vikings’ final touchdown on a 9-yard run in the third quarter.
First round results from Saturday:
Class 1A:
LeRoy 30, Greenfield-Northwestern 0
GCMS 49, Mt. Olive 13 (Nick Meunier scored all 7 Falcon touchdowns)
Stark County 28, Tremont 7
Class 2A:
Tri-Valley 22, West Carroll 0
Fieldcrest 27, Knoxville 6
Mendon Unity 27, El Paso-Gridley 13
Class 3A:
Central Catholic 27, DuQuoin 0
Class 4A:
Belleville Althoff Catholic 62, Clinton 27
Class 6A:
Peoria Notre Dame 43, Normal West 21
Second round pairings (dates and times to be announced Monday):
Class 1A:
Tuscola at LeRoy
GCMS at Winchester (West Central coop)
Class 2A:
Tri-Valley at Taylor Ridge Rockridge
Mendon Unity at Deer Creek-Mackinaw
Fieldcrest at Annawan-Wethersfield (at Kewanee Wethersfield)
Class 3A:
Central Catholic at Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Class 7A:
Park Ridge Maine South at Normal Community
