Kaneland has no answer for Belvidere North’s Ben Bucher in opening-round playoff loss

BELVIDERE – Four carries. Four touchdowns. And 207 yards.

It was more than just an impressive stat line for Belvidere North running back Ben Bucher. It was the difference in the No. 4-seeded Blue Thunder’s 35-20 win over No. 13 Kaneland in a Class 6A first-round playoff game.

“He’s such a dynamic athlete,” Belvidere North coach Jeff Beck said. “We wish we could feed him the ball 20 times a game, but he’s so important to us on defense. So we’re going to keep trying to manage his carries to keep him fresh on this playoff run.”

Kaneland (5-5) never led in the game and was down 28-6 in the third quarter after Erick Roman ran left on a pitch and went 38 yards for a score on the same play that worked four times for Bucher, resulting in touchdown runs of 42, 22, 33 and 60 yards.

But the offense for the Knights started to get rolling after managing just two Sam Bruno field goals. Dylan Sanagustin scored the first Knights touchdown, plunging in from 4 yards out to cap a drive that went 80 yards and took up 6:03 to close the third quarter. It was aided by a pair of penalties by the Blue Thunder (9-1) – a late hit after a 14-yard pass from Chase Kruckenberg to Brady Brown, then a pass interference on a fourth-and-8 pass that was intercepted by Noah Rooney and returned 63 yards.

The Blue Thunder answered with a long drive that ate up more than 7 minutes but didn’t result in any points after Luke Gadonski blocked a field goal. Kaneland rolled off a 15-play, 88-yard drive, culminating with a 22-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 10 from Kruckenberg to Luke Wituk with 2:01 left, pulling the Knights to within 28-20.

“We kept fighting, we played tough, we just came up a little short,” Kaneland coach Michael Thorgesen said. “We just couldn’t stop a few plays on offense. I think our offense kind of picked it up in the second half. It just wasn’t enough.”

But Bucher wasn’t done after the Kaneland score. After a hold on the first play of the drive, he went 60 yards for a score, capping his monster game on just four carries. Beck said where he also plays in the secondary, the staff tries to limit his total snaps and uses him sparingly on offense.

“It was just a toss. We were calling it out. We knew it was coming,” Thorgesen said. “We missed tackles, we were a little bit out of position. But that’s partially on me. I have to get the kids in the right place. We thought we made adjustments at half and it showed in a drive or two but they just hit it at the end.”

Kaneland ran 82 plays to Belvidere North’s 35, but the Blue Thunder outgained the Knights 375-372. Kruckenberg was 25-of-41 passing for 247 yards, with Brown making 11 catches for 119 yards.

The Knights’ season came to an end with the loss. Even though they lost five of their last six games – all against playoff teams and four of them to teams that finish undefeated or with one loss – the team was loaded with players who didn’t have a lot of experience.

The 2023 Knights squad was senior-heavy, and this version entered the year without a lot of varsity snaps.

“I’m really proud of these kids. I think we defied expectations,” Thorgesen said. “We lost darn near our whole team. We had 16 or 17 kids who never played a snap of varsity football, and there’s six playoff teams on our schedule and we made the playoffs. I feel like we overachieved in a way. You always want to get one more, but I’m very proud of what we did this year.”

The Knights started the year with wins against two teams that finished the regular season 7-2 and won their playoff opener – Washington and Wauconda, which will face Belvidere North in the second round next week.

Junior offensive and defensive lineman Jake Buckley agreed, saying he felt a lot of people had counted the Knights out this year. And with a lot of players back – he’s optimistic about what the 2025 team can accomplish.

“To be able to make it to the playoffs and be able to beat the teams who we weren’t supposed to beat, it’s the greatest thing,” Buckley said. “It was amazing. ... We feel we’ll be able to make further strides during the offseason with all the young guys we have on this team that played tonight.”