West Carroll stops Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland inches short to preserve 20-17 8-man playoff triumph

SAVANNA – Even before its Illinois 8-Man Football Association playoff opener against Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland, it was safe to call West Carroll’s move to the eight-man game this season a success.

After Saturday’s 20-17 victory, thanks to defensive tackle Aden Wiest and defensive end Cole Herrell’s goal-line stop of FCW fullback Elijah Detwiler inside the 1-yard line in the final minute, the move can be upgraded to a rousing success.

The Thunder’s scored their first playoff win since 2017 after enduring four consecutive winless seasons playing 11-man football. Aden Buchholz scored all three West Carroll touchdowns, then Herrell fired untouched off the end to drag down Detwiler inches short of a potential game-winning score on fourth-and-goal from the 2 with just under a minute to play.

A QB sneak, a handoff and a kneel-down later, it was over.

“It was fourth down, end of the game, and I came around the tight end and saw the guy with the ball coming through our line,” Herrell said. “I just wrapped around his waist and tried to drag him backward, away from the goal line.

“I was like, ‘No way we actually did it.’ I was just shocked. ... It’s a lot to think about, but it’s awesome.”

West Carroll (8-2) advances on to visit undefeated Polo (10-0) in the second round next weekend.

Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland (6-4), which had received a 27-yard field goal earlier from Connor Decker but elected to go for the win on its final drive instead of a 20-yarder to likely force overtime, sees its second straight playoff season come to an end.

“It’s one of those decisions that 10 out of 10 times I think I would have picked the same play,” FCW coach Todd Reed said. “I thought fourth-and-2, the way Elijah Detwiler had been running the ball, and I asked [the team] during the timeout what play they wanted, and they all said they wanted to run a dive with Eli ... and I would do the same thing 10 times in a row with that kid.

“I had enough confidence in him, and his teammates had enough confidence in him to run that play. And I wanted to go for the win on the road.”

On the deciding play, Detwiler took a quick handoff from QB Seth Jones and immediately met Wiest right at the line of scrimmage. Herrell flew in and was able to wrap up and pull down Detwiler before he could muster a second effort, and the officials ruled a turnover on downs about 5 inches from the goal line.

“It was just not giving up, really,” Thunder coach Abel Sustaita said. “We killed ourselves with penalties (seven for 60 yards) every time we got a good drive going, but our defense, ‘Put your foot down and make the stop.’ And that’s what it was.

“We knew they were either going to run up the middle or do a quarterback run on the side. We just piled it up and said, ‘Hey, you’re responsible for this. You’re responsible for that. Make it happen. It’s your time.’ "

FCW outgained West Carroll 271-211 in yards from scrimmage led by a dominating run game powered by junior tailback Leelynd Durbin (21 carries for 125 yards and both Falcons touchdowns, from 49 and 14 yards out), the hard-running Detwiler (16 carries for 77 yards) and Jones (eight carries for 41 yards, 0-for-2 passing).

The difference in offensive production, however, was Buchholz. The West Carroll sophomore carried the ball 16 times for 109 yards and two first-half touchdowns (12 and 4 yards), then thrilled the home crowd by starting the second half with an 83-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 20-10 advantage.

It would be West Carroll’s only score of the second half. Thanks to two fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter by the Thunder defense – at the FCW 25 on the first play of the fourth quarter and inside the Thunder 1-yard line on FCW’s final offensive play of the game – it would be enough.

Reef Pickard-Schingten added 65 rushing yards for West Carroll, which also received 2½ tackles for loss from Buchholz on defense and an interception courtesy of Ryker Budimlija.

Durbin with a pass defense and interception, Brezdyn Simons with a TFL plus a quarterback sack and Detwiler with 4½ tackles for loss led the FCW defense.