Polo surges past Alden-Hebron in 8-man playoff opener

POLO – For the first time all season, Polo trailed in a football game. In the opening round of the Illinois 8-man Football Association playoffs Friday, Alden-Hebron drove 63 yards in nine plays to take a 6-0 lead on the second-seeded Marcos.

An 18-yard pass from JP Stewart to Jack Stewart and 19 and 22-yard runs by Wyatt Armbrust had Polo momentarily reeling.

“No one has done that to us on the first drive,” Polo quarterback Gus Mumford said. “We may have underestimated them.”

Polo recovered, however, going on to win 58-20. The Marcos advance to face the winner of Saturday’s game between seventh-seeded West Carroll and 10th-seeded Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland.

It was Armbrust replacing Stewart at quarterback and sneaking in from a yard out on fourth down for the early lead. This after the Marcos stuffed Alden-Hebron for no gain on three straight plays from the 1.

“It was amazing to start like that against someone as good as Polo,” Armbrust said. “It gave us momentum.”

Even though Polo (10-0) regained the lead, the Green Giants (5-5) pulled within 18-12 on a 48-yard scoop-and-score by freshman Caleb Linneman midway through the second quarter. They also had another chance to score in the first half when a wide-open Linneman couldn’t hold on to a long halfback pass from Armbrust. On the next play, it was Jeffrey Donaldson blocking an Armbrust punt.

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Polo's Mercer Mumford (1) fights off Alden-Hebron's JP Stewart (7) during 8-man playoff action on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 in Polo. (Earleen Hinton)

After losing to Polo 54-6 earlier, the Green Giants needed after break that could get and their thin hopes for a major upset soon evaporated.

First, it was Kailin Gulbranson capping a quick 55-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run to up the Polo lead to 26-12. Then Gage Zeigler recovered an Alden-Hebron fumble at the visitors’ 38-yard line.

Gus Mumford, who already had 34 and 70-yard touchdowns and a 12-yard scoring strike to Billy Lowry, made it 34-12 on a 12-yard TD scramble. His heroics continued with an interception after a long kickoff return by Armbrust.

With 1.4 seconds left in the half, he found Mercer Mumford at the sideline for 36 yards. On the final play, the two connected again on a 14-yard touchdown for a 42-12 halftime advantage.

“I’m proud of our kids. They came out with intensity,” A-H coach John Lalor said. “It fell apart before the half on those three scores. They wore us down.”

Polo continued to grind down the Green Giants in the second half, starting with an eight-play scoring drive, with Mumford running in from 9 yards for his 18th TD of the year.

“We didn’t get down and kept our heads up,” Polo lineman Wyatt Plachno said.

Alden-Hebron’s Zach Lillie did stifle another Marco scoring opportunity with his second fumble recovery. That was one part of the game Polo was disappointed in.

“Typically, we don’t have that many turnovers,” Mumford said. “We’ll get back to work and ball security will be a big priority.”

Gulbranson intercepted Stewart four plays later and JT Stephenson replaced Mumford as QB on the final drive. On a beautiful 21-yard throw-and-catch between Stephenson and Damon Rowe, the Marcos set the running clock in motion.

“Those two have been practicing it all year,” Plachno said.

Armbrust finished his standout career at Alden-Hebron with a 4-yard score to make it 58-20, giving the Green Giants the honor of putting more points on Polo than anyone this year.

“On such a tough defense [five-points-per-game average] that says a lot,” A-H offensive coordinator Jason Nelson said. “It took a lot of film analysis and changing our whole scheme. That first drive got us pumped up. Our goal was to compete hard and we did.”

Mumford led the Marcos with 178 yards rushing on 10 carries, along with 6-of-9 passing for 93 yards and 4 TDS.

“I like the way we recovered from a shaky start,” Polo coach Ted Alston said.