The “Panthers” overrun the “Falcons” in the late-season clash between the undefeated | sport

LEROY – Friday night had to happen. For the LeRoy and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley football teams.

A pair of undefeated teams that had gotten through most of the first seven weeks of the season well and stood side by side at the top of the Heart of Central Illinois Conference small school standings.

Win or lose, they only needed this game two weeks before the playoffs.

“We were looking forward to it because we knew this was the type of team we would see in the postseason,” LeRoy coach BJ Zeleznik said. “It was a game we had to play, a game where we had to be close at halftime and we had to prove we could pull away.”

And that’s exactly what happened. The Panthers went into halftime with a 14-6 lead and finished the night as winners 34-13.

“A fantastic experience for the future,” LeRoy senior quarterback/linebacker Bo Zeleznik said. “The last thing you want is a close playoff game in the fourth quarter and you don’t know how to play. It’s fantastic to have this experience against a really, really good team.”

GCMS (7-1) coach Chad Augspurger expressed a similar sentiment, adding that being in a tough game so close to the postseason wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe it was even a good thing to have a wake-up call.

“This team has to learn to deal with adversity,” said Augspurger. “We haven’t really been tested since Week 1. We had some ups and downs, but for the most part we were in control of every game. It’s a great experience to deal with adversity in situations like that two weeks before the playoffs. We’re going to embrace it, learn from it and get better from it.”

The Panthers (8-0) did their job the same way they have been doing it forever: running the football. LeRoy had 49 offensive plays on Friday, including 48 runs. Zeleznik rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, Stephon Williams had 92 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, Kobe Brent ran nine times for 59 yards and a score and Sam Wagner ran 78 yards to the end zone.

“Our guys at the front are trying hard. Every day, every game they give their best,” said Bo Zeleznik. “To feel like we just have to make them proud, we take them out. It’s a very good bond that we have built.”

That was the Panthers’ main theme all season long, and no one could stop it. Opposing teams know they will run the ball, but the well-oiled machine LeRoy has created seems inevitable every week.

“Part of it is the consistency of just being and practicing it every day so that you have absolute confidence in what you’re doing,” BJ Zeleznik said. “We have the horses up front this year and we have options in the back field. We have depth. … We’re a physical football team. Now it becomes a question of will. That’s what we do. We keep hitting and eventually they will break? And can we break a couple, get a turnover, and suddenly turn it into a three-touchdown game? We were able to do it again, and we did it all year long.”

And don’t forget that one-pass play late in the third quarter. The Panthers ran the play, and Zeleznik threw the ball to Brent, who had no defenders within 10 yards of him as he headed into the end zone for a 33-yard score.

LeRoy is good for one pass per game, and most of the time it works because the defense is so busy trying to stop the rushing attack.

“It’s wonderful,” said Bo Zeleznik with a broad smile about the encounter on these rare passes. “It’s such a satisfying feeling, especially when it’s wide open, because you know you’re doing your job with the run game. “Everyone clicks, and everyone passes because they have no idea. When that can happen, you know you’re playing well.”

However, this game was a lot more competitive than the final result suggested. The score was 7-6 in the first quarter after GCMS quarterback Brayden Elliott connected with Trent Wetherell for a 49-yard touchdown.

It didn’t help the Falcons that Matt Allen, their best lineman, was out with pneumonia and running back Jacob Chase, “the focal point of our offense,” was injured in the first quarter. But even though they were down 28 points in the fourth quarter, it didn’t feel like the game was over. Elliott found Ryker Grauer for a 12-yard touchdown to put the Falcons one step closer, and they had a few more chances after that, but LeRoy’s offense kept eating up chunks of time whenever they got the ball.

“We saw a team that fights until the end. “There’s no stopping it,” Augspurger said. “We were dealt some pretty difficult hands, but the kids continued to fight and still found ways to move the ball and make plays. It’s about finding the positive. You take the negatives and find ways to fix them. When we evaluate feature films, we talk about the advantages and don’t even use the word “disadvantages”. We talk about what we can improve.”

With a performance like this against a team as good as GCMS, the Panthers made a statement. This is the type of team they’ll see in the playoffs – a veteran quarterback, a dynamic running back, a big line and a ton of athletes – and it’s shown they’re ready for games with a little more on the line Game stands. BJ Zeleznik said he believes his team is one of the mentally toughest in the state and that will be his calling card.

“Mentally we are extremely strong,” said Bo Zeleznik. “You hit them until they break, or you can’t hit them anymore. When you have a group that has that common mentality, it makes for a pretty good team. I love playing with these guys.”

And to still be undefeated for eight weeks, especially in the program’s 125th year, makes the whole city feel like something special is coming this fall.

“It’s pretty amazing,” BJ Zeleznik said. “I’m just happy for the community. Talk about the excitement of coming out. Our children absolutely deserve it. It’s great to see how much work this graduating class has done. Generations are coming back. I see guys from the 70s and family members of former coaches from back then. All the different pieces that came together this year were really special.”