Landin Benson, Coal City turn it around in the second half at Boylan

ROCKFORD — Landin Benson has spent the past three seasons putting together tremendous performances, but the run the Coal City senior running back is on right now is on another planet.

Benson made it back-to-back five-touchdown efforts in Saturday’s Class 4A second-round playoff matchup at Rockford Boylan Saturday, turning 38 carries into 168 yards and a handful of touchdowns to help the Coalers run away with a 33-10 victory.

“I saw a guy that put the team on his back,” Coal City coach Francis Loughran said. “He’ll be the first to credit the O-line, and the O-line played great. You could see that he was getting a little tired, but he kept on playing. You could see just how much he wanted this one.”

The Coalers’ all-time rushing leader will get the headline for his second five-score effort in as many weeks, scoring a handful in last week’s 41-13 win over Johnsburg as well. But just as Loughran predicted, Benson was quick to credit not just his line, but also the Coal City defense for its dominance that allowed the visitors to overcome a 10-7 halftime deficit.

“We did great coming out in the second half, and the defense was strong and the O-line was amazing today,” Benson said. “Just powering it down in those power sets. The linemen did a great job blocking and there’s always holes opening up for us, which is huge.”

The Coalers, seeded seventh in the northern bracket, improved to 9-2. Boylan’s season ended at 6-5.

Benson scored on a 4-yard touchdown on Coal City’s first play from scrimmage, but the offense went dormant for the rest of the first half with the next three drives ending in an interception, a punt and the end of the second quarter.

Boylan capitalized on that interception, driving down the field to get on the board with a 30-yard field goal. Then on the Coal City punt, the TItans got excellent field position at the Coalers’ 36-yard line. Boylan quarterback Dominic Cacciatore ended that drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Eli Davis that put the Titans up 10-7.

But once the third quarter got underway, it was all Coalers. They received the opening kickoff of the second half and then drove 73 yards in just under four minutes, taking a 14-10 lead on a 15-yard touchdown run from Benson.

The defense then forced a Boylan punt, and the offense got back in action with a 56-yard drive that ate nearly five more minutes off the clock. With just 58 seconds left in the third, Benson scored from eight yards out to put the Coalers up 20-10.

The Coal City defense once again held Boylan in check on the ensuing drive, forcing a three-and-out and a punt. The Coaler offense took over with 11:52 left in the game after the punt and drove 76-yards in around eight minutes. Benson scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run, putting Coal City up 26-10 and just about sealing the win.

The Coalers added one more score for good measure after forcing a quick turnover on downs. Benson once again found himself in the endzone for the final score, this time on a two-yard run with just 1:21 to go in the game that put Coal City up 33-10.

Loughran said he was glad to see his team continue to push after a bit of a slow start to pull away in the second half.

“One of the biggest things we talked about was putting four quarters together,” he said. “[Boylan] had excellent size and some guys going both ways, and we did too, but I thought we did a good job of just continuing to play physically and wear them down.

“The long scoring drives in the third quarter with their defense on the field I thought was key. We just kept on rolling pretty good there in the second quarter.”

Loughran said the Coalers’ defense did a good job of executing, especially in the second half, to limit Boylan from building a bigger lead or mounting a comeback push.

“I see a unit that loves to fight,” he said. “Boylan was moving the ball on us in the first half, we made some adjustments at halftime and I thought the guys responded well. I can’t see enough about our D-line, I thought our linebackers played well and there were no really big plays over the top of our DB’s, so a good defensive effort.”

That level of defensive play will be needed again next Saturday when the Coalers host Dixon in the quarterfinals. Dixon is 10-1 on the season and is coming off a 51-6 win in the second round.

Loughran said that the team is going to have to be ready for a tough test if they want to stay alive to reach the semifinals and beyond.

“Dixon is an excellent team and I’m anxious to see the video and film we get later today,” he said. “We know they’re a tough team that’s had a fantastic season so far. They played Byron extremely tough and we know how good Byron is, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve got to have a good week of preparation.”

STAT BOOK

Benson ran the ball 38 times for 168 yards and five touchdowns while also catching three passes for 38 yards. Gabe McHugh had three catches for a team-high 46 yards while Logan Natyshok led the team with four catches. He had 23 receiving yards. Quarterback Zander Meents was 11-of-13 passing for 141 yards. Defensively, John Keigher and Emmett Easton each had eight total tackles to lead the team.

UP NEXT

Coal City will host Dixon at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Class 4A quarterfinals.