Fast start, strong play send Polo into semifinals

POLO – In a dominating all-around performance in Saturday’s Illinois 8-Man Football Association quarterfinal, Polo controlled all three phases in a 66-0 win over West Carroll.

The Marcos (10-0) scored touchdowns on seven of their nine offensive drives; the only time they were stopped was at halftime and then on downs in the final minute. The defense recovered three fumbles, returning two of them for touchdowns. And the special teams got a 57-yard punt return to set up a score, and also recovered a squib kickoff.

[ Photos from West Carroll at Polo I8FA quarterfinal football game ]

“We have very good all-around everything, I feel,” senior Noah Dewey said. “Our offense is really clicking, and the defense and special teams can get it done for us too. It was pretty key to get off to a fast start, and then when we shut them out like that, there’s nothing they can do.”

After what coach Ted Alston called a “lethargic” start in last week’s first-round playoff win over Alden-Hebron, Polo wasn’t having any of that this time. It recovered West Carroll’s opening onside kick and covered 49 yards in three running plays, with quarterback Gus Mumford opening the drive with a 22-yard run and finishing it with a 19-yard scoring sprint.

On the Thunder’s first play from scrimmage, Polo’s Kailin Gulbranson recovered a fumble, and Dewey sprinted around right end for a 31-yard touchdown on the very next play for a 16-0 lead just 1:03 into the game.

“It’s very tough to come back when you’re playing the No. 1-ranked team,” West Carroll coach Abel Sustaita said. “The goal was to try and come out and be aggressive. We onside kicked it, then I blitzed the first play, just to let Polo know that we were going to come, and they caught us on both.

“Then after their touchdown, the first play, we tried a different formation and the ball happened to hit the fullback on the leg and got knocked out of the quarterback’s hand – just an unfortunate, weird accident – and they got another touchdown. Then from there, we couldn’t catch up. You have to play a near perfect game in order to beat a team like that.”

West Carroll (8-3) couldn’t convert a fourth-and-1 on its next series, and Gulbranson broke the second play of Polo’s possession for a 47-yard touchdown and a 22-0 lead. The Marcos then drove 69 yards in five plays after forcing a Thunder punt, with Billy Lowry breaking off runs of 27 and 12 in that drive to set up Mumford’s 5-yard TD run.

“We really emphasized having a better start this week,” Alston said. “We came out ready to play playoff football from the start, and I thought both sides of the ball played really well, and obviously the result showed up for us.”

A strip-sack on third-and-19 of the Thunder’s next series was caught in the air by Polo’s Damon Rowe and returned 20 yards for a touchdown. West Carroll then got a pair of big runs by quarterback Winter Harrington and drove to the Polo 11-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs. The Marcos drove 88 yards in seven plays, with Dewey running in from 14 yards out for a 46-0 lead with 9:30 left in the second quarter.

“Throughout the course of practice during the week, our O-line was really playing well, so I knew when we came out here we’d be ready,” Mumford said. “They threw a six-man front at us, something we hadn’t seen before, and our line just took care of it and we got big gains out of it.”

A Thunder three-and-out led to another punt, and Mumford returned it 57 yards to the 3-yard line, then Gage Zeigler crashed into the end zone on the next play as Polo led 54-0 at halftime.

Jordan Reed returned a West Carroll fumble 72 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, then Polo’s Dylan Reimer recovered a fumble on the Thunder’s next possession, which Quinton Hart cashed in seven plays later with a 1-yard TD plunge to finish the scoring.

The Marcos rushed for 378 yards and six touchdowns on 34 carries, averaging 11.1 yards per carry; five different backs ran for at least 36 yards, and three (Lowry, Mumford and Dewey) all had more than 60 yards. They only threw one pass, a 27-yarder from backup quarterback JT Stephenson to Mercer Mumford to convert a third-and-19 late in the first half.

On the flip side, West Carroll rushed 31 times for 80 yards and managed just 4 yards on 1-for-6 passing.

“It’s pretty good to have a defense behind you that can stop them like that. It doesn’t matter how many points you score because that defense will try to shut them out,” Lowry said. “We feel like if we get a lead like we did early, our defense will really get after it and shut them down, and then they just can’t put together an offense.”

Polo advances to the I8FA semifinals for the fifth straight season where it will face rival Milledgeville – a 16-12 winner over Ridgewood in its quarterfinal game Saturday in Cambridge – at Floyd Daub Field next weekend.