Plano shuts out Johnsburg to snap 3-game skid

JOHNSBURG – Even in the midst of a tough three-game losing streak, Plano coach Rick Ponx saw enough against tough foes from La Salle-Peru and Richmond-Burton to know his team was going to break through.

He and the Reapers were rewarded with that effort Friday in a 19-0 victory over Johnsburg in a pivotal contest for playoff consideration.

Plano controlled the clock offensively and shut down Johnsburg’s RPO attack in moving to .500 on the year and picking up its first Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 Conference Blue Division victory (3-3, 1-2).

“We went down to L-P and played a whale of a game down there and played hard,” Ponx said. “We played hard against Richmond-Burton, and I just kept telling them, if you keep doing that, eventually you are going to win. You can’t back off.”

The Reapers didn’t back off in playing mistake-free football. They were 5-for-10 on third downs offensively while watching Waleed Johnson rush for 99 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns.

That offense was critical in the opening half. The Reapers held the ball for 17 minutes 28 seconds of the 24-minute half. That, along with a quarterback sneak by Kaiden Schimandle and a 9-yard run scoring run from Johnson made it 12-0 going into the locker room.

Johnsburg (2-4, 0-4), meanwhile, was the opposite of mistake-free. It committed 14 penalties for 125 yards and totaled only 89 yards of offense. The Skyhawks didn’t have a first down until the 10:25 mark of the third quarter.

That drive – the opening of the second half – was Johnsburg’s best chance to score as it advanced to the Plano 9. However, as was the story, a holding penalty, an illegal block, and a delay of game penalty thwarted the effort, which ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down.

“They’re really big up front and tough up front,” Johnsburg coach Sam Lesniak said. “We had to do some different things, but nonetheless we struggled to find a rhythm. We have such a small margin for error and so you get a penalty and get behind the sticks that’s where we really have been struggling.”

The defensive effort for Johnsburg, led by two sacks from Jett Hartmann, kept the game close until the Skyhawks failed on fourth down deep in their own territory with 3:24 left. Three plays later, Johnson scored his second touchdown on a 1-yarder.

“We just knew that they scheduled us on their homecoming, and the team all week, we took it personal,” said Johnson, who also had an interception on defense. “So when we came here, it was a business trip. I was just happy my team came out here and got the ‘W.’”