Dunlap routs IVC in rivalry game

When Illinois Valley Central and Dunlap met at Dunlap Friday night, it was a tale of two halves.

“Our no-huddle offense worked very well, we only had one turnover and our special teams played great on both sides of the ball,” IVC coach Tim Heinz said. “We played great for the first 22 and a half minutes.”

Dunlap received the opening kickoff but the Ghost defense held strong and IVC received the ball for the first time.

The Eagle defense then stopped the Ghosts but failed to move the ball and IVC took the ball back.

Senior quarterback Brock Adcock then orchestrated a drive, using passes to senior

Trever Black and runs from senior running back Dan Semtner.

The Ghosts punched the ball in from the one-yard line with Semtner running and went up, 7-0.

“I thought our defense really played well Friday. They really kept us in the game through a quarter and a half, the first and half of the second quarter,” said Dunlap head coach Brett Cazalet.

The teams traded possessions until the final minutes of the first half.

With Dunlap trailing 7-0, quarterback Logan Schrader threw a sideline pass to Peter

Sorenson in the final minute of the half to tie the game at seven.

Only two plays into the Ghosts next drive, linebacker Nick Mangieri intercepted an IVC pass and set Dunlap up with great field possession.

“It was one of those things where the kid just made a really special play,” Cazalet said. “On second down, our linebacker made a heck of a play and intercepted it with a one handed catch. It just kind of turned the tide a little bit.”

With only eight seconds remaining in the half, Mangieri caught a pass from Schrader that put Dunlap up, 13-7, heading into halftime.

The Ghosts took the ball to start the second half and drove deep into Dunlap territory.
On fourth-and four at the Dunlap five, Adcock was sacked by Mangieri and Dunlap took back the ball.

“We couldn’t get our running game going in the second half,” Heinz said.

Schrader then drove the Eagles 89 yards for a touchdown that the Eagle running back punched in from three-yards out.

Schrader next ran in the two-point conversion to put Dunlap up, 21-7.

“After first quarter, Logan had a really special game. He threw over 280 yards and three touchdowns,” Cazalet said.

The Ghosts were then stopped on fourth down again and Dunlap took over to start the fourth quarter.

Schrader then orchestrated another touchdown drive that was capped with a 20-yard pass to Sorenson, which he snatched with a one-hand grab to put Dunlap up, 28-7.

“Defensively, we were unable to have our corners match up against their big receivers,” Heinz said.

The Ghosts then were faced with fourth down in their next drive, but Adcock ran for 25 yards on a fake punt.

On the next third down, Adcock completed a 21-yard pass to Black that put the Ghosts deep in Dunlap territory.

Faced with another fourth down, IVC was unable to convert when Adcock was sacked.
Dunlap scored once more when Schrader scrambled for 25-yards to put Dunlap up by the final score of 35-7.

The Ghosts next play at 7 p.m. Friday at Limestone.

“We need to get better upfront,” Heinz said. “Limestone is going to run the ball and we have to have guys up front who can stop that. We’re working on tackling, blocking and just trying to get ready for Limestone.”

The Eagles face Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. Friday at home.

“We definitely have to work on our pass protection. They ran some nice blitzes at us that our guys had never seen before,” Cazalet said. “Notre Dame runs a style of football that’s similar to IVC. Our defensive line is going to have to make a lot of plays like we did last week.”