Leelynd Durbin, FCW run past Galva 49-12 in 8-man triumph

FLANAGAN – The Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland football team dominated the two things that normally lead to victory in Friday night’s Illinois 8-Man Football Association game against Galva.

The Falcons controlled the line on both sides of the ball.

On the offensive side, the solid line play helped junior running back Leelynd Durbin run for 145 yards on 12 carries with three touchdowns, surpassing 1,000 yards on the season. Playoff-bound FCW rushed 31 times for 332 in a 49-12 victory over the Wildcats to finish the regular season at 6-3. The 10th-seeded Falcons will visit No. 7 West Carroll for a 1 p.m. Saturday first-rounder in the I8FA playoffs.

Galva ends the season at 0-9.

“I’ve had so many carries this season where I’ve not even gotten touched, and that’s because my offensive line always does a great job. I couldn’t have reached my goal without them. They were really solid tonight.”

—  Leelynd Durbin, Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland junior running back

“The entire season our offensive and defensive lines have been the key for us,” FCW coach Todd Reed said. “We came out tonight with the mindset of owning the trenches on both sides of the ball. When our lines are clicking like they were tonight, it really allows for our running game to be successful on offense and our linebackers and defensive backs to be very aggressive on defense.

“It was nice to see Leelynd go over 1,000 yards for the season, and he’ll be the first one to tell you how much his linemen are a part of that milestone. But he also has great vision to sometimes make plays that amaze you.”

FCW this Saturday night will find out its opponent and location of its opening-round I8FA playoff game.

After forcing a Galva punt on the opening possession, the hosts took the lead for good on Durbin’s 11-yard scoring run. Connor Decker added the first of his four PAT boots.

The Wildcats then drove from their own 33 to the FCW 34, but an interception by Durbin at the 5 on fourth down set up the play of the game.

Falcons senior quarterback Seth Jones recorded his only completion of the game when he dropped back and hit streaking wideout Connor Reed in stride down the north sideline with a perfect spiral for a 95-yard TD.

“We knew that (Galva) likes to press up with their defensive backs, and it was also one-on-one coverage on that play,” said Jones, who also scored on an 8-yard run in the second quarter after earlier TD runs by Elijah Detwiler (3 yards) and Durbin (37 yards) to give FCW a 36-0 halftime lead. “It was just a fade route, but more often than not Connor is going to outrun the guy on him, and that was the case on that play.

“Right from the snap, I saw Connor beat him off the line, so from there I’m just trying to throw the ball out in front of him and let him go get it. It was kind of a quick throw, but even then, the offensive line didn’t allow anyone to get close to me before I let the pass go.

“That was definitely the longest touchdown pass I have ever had. Once I saw him catch it, I knew he was gone.”

On the opening drive of the second half, FCW’s Logan Ruddy finished off an eight-play, 58-yard drive with a 7-yard TD run. Galva broke the shutout on the following possession on a 5-yard run by Cole Baulch that made it 43-6.

Durbin scored on an 8-yard run in the opening minute of the fourth, while Galva’s Blake Stahl’s 21-yard scoring scramble with five minutes to play closed out the scoring.

“I knew I was pretty close, but I didn’t know the exact number I needed,” Durbin said of closing in on 1,000 rushing yards for the season. “This wasn’t really a goal I had for myself this season, but once I reached around 500 yards and we still had four games to play, it kind of became my goal as long as we were still winning games.

“I’ve had so many carries this season where I’ve not even gotten touched, and that’s because my offensive line always does a great job. I couldn’t have reached my goal without them. They were really solid tonight.”

After Durbin’s huge game, Detwiler (on nine carries) and Ruddy (on three tries) each had 55 yards on the ground. Jones ran four times for 54 yards. On defense, Zandar Radke had an interception, and Detwiler a pair of sacks and a tackle for loss.

Galva – which had 300 yards of total offense – was led by 35 yards rushing and 94 yards passing by Cyrus Hurd, while Stahl finished with 130 yards through the air.