Football: Wilmington pulls away from rival Coal City

WILMINGTON – In the last eight editions of the Interstate Eight Conference football rivalry between Wilmington and Coal City, each had won four.

On this Friday night, Coal City (5-4) played the undefeated Wildcats even at 7-7 until midway through the second quarter as numerous skirmishes had occurred between the rivals.

Wilmington (9-0), however, struck for three touchdowns in the last 5:30 of the first half and won the I-8 crossover, 34-14. Owen Weaver rushed for 171 of his 178 yards in the first half. He scored three touchdowns, giving him 30 for the season, as the Wildcats completed their 11th undefeated regular season in coach Jeff Reents’ 23 seasons.

Weaver started the scoring when he raced 60 yards with less than two minutes gone. Coal City’s Brock Crawford recovered a Weaver fumble at the Coalers’ 49 with six minutes left in the first quarter. An 11-play, 51-yard Coal City scoring drive was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from sophomore Connor Skubic (11 carries, 30 yards). A 16-yard completion to the 2 from Christian Johnson (8 of 18, 84 yards) to Jack Chapman set up the score.

With 5:52 left in the half, Weaver scored his second touchdown from 2 yards out and with Alex Hatten’s  second of four successful conversions, the Wildcats led 14-7. Less than a minute later, Wilmington linebacker Brent McWilliams intercepted a Johnson pass at the Wildcats’ 15-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Connor Dempsay (seven carries, 117 yards) electrified the huge senior night crowd at Jeff Reents Stadium with a 57-yard run to the Coalers’ 24. Dustin Kelly (eight carries, 50 yards, two TDs) scored from there with 3:42 left in the half.

“I owe all of my success to my teammates,” Dempsay said. “My offensive line did a great job and this was a big win for us.”

“It’s all about the team here at Wilmington, “ McWilliams said. “A great team win and on to the playoffs.”

Dempsay and Kelly hooked up on a 44-yard pass play, setting up Weaver’s third touchdown from 2 yards out with 26 seconds left in the half.

“It’s great to beat our rivals from Coal City and I am really proud we accomplished another undefeated regular season,” Kelly said. “Connor is a solid quarterback, and I ran my route and he got me the ball.”

Kelly scored his 10th touchdown of the season from 9 yards out with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

Coal City’s Nick Hayden closed the scoring on a 30-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

“My offensive line makes everything I do possible,” Weaver said. “They block and I just run behind them.”

Coal City qualified for the Class 4A playoffs and will be on the road next weekend in the first round.

“We just got beat up physically,” Coal City coach Lenny Onsen. “We played Wilmington close in the first quarter, but they just manhandled us. That’s the tale of the tape and we tip our hats to them. The best thing about this is we can regroup, have a great week of practice and play another football game next week.”

Wilmington will host a Class 3A first-round game.

“I really believe going 9-0 in the I-8 will help prepare us for the playoffs,” Reents said. “We controlled the line of scrimmage and played really well against our rivals. Give Coal City credit. They forced us to make some adjustments and we responded very well at the close of the first half.

“Connor (Dempsay) is a special kid who really takes the pressure off Owen (Weaver), another special kid who just does his job.”