Minooka secures its playoff spot with win over West Aurora

MINOOKA - A win was a must if Minooka wanted to advance to the playoffs and that win was achieved Friday night as the Indians beat West Aurora, 20-14, to get that all important fifth victory of the season.

“It wasn’t pretty, especially in the first half, but we got it done and that is a tribute to these kids,” Minooka coach Matt Harding said.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, but as the second quarter began, the Indians Konner Sears picked up a West Aurora fumble and raced 70 yards for a touchdown, but a block in the back negated the score.

“I told the team after the game that we had too many penalties tonight and that cost us early,” Harding said.

The Indians had four key penalties in the first half that cost them 50 yards in field possession.

But Minooka finally found the end zone as Malik Armstrong put the Indians up 7-0 with a 43-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left in the first half to finish off an 80-yard drive.

“We didn’t play that well in the first half, but I saw the opening and just went down the sideline to the endzone,” Armstrong said. “We just want to keep working and get better everyday. We are in the playoffs, there are only 32 teams that make it and anything can happen and we are in the mix.”

But the Blackhawks responded to the Minooka score on their next possession with there own 80 yard drive, that took 4:20 off the clock, as Gino Martino hit Andrew Kolich with a 17 -yard touchdown pass with only :33 seconds left before the break.

The Indians had a golden opportunity on the very next possession, as they were aided by two pass interference calls in the final :28 seconds of the half, but the drive died on a missed 25 -yard field goal attempt as the clock ran out for the half.

“At halftime we decided to go with the power team on offense,” Harding said. “I told our defense that if they [West Aurora] don’t score we win the game.”

That power game proved to be the big difference for the Indians. Armstrong ended the night with 85 yards on the ground on eight carries and his second touchdown with 10:34 left in the game on a nine-yard run to put the Indians up 20-7.

Junior quarterback Gavin Dooley rushed eight times for 68 yards and had a quarterback sneak that went for 31 yards.

Trevor Hudak rushed twice for 57 yards, but one of those was a 55-yard scamper on Minooka’s first play of the second half. He also caught two passes for 22 yards.

The workhorse for the Indians was senior Ethan Murphy, as he had 89 yards on 17 carries and caught four passes for another 28 yards.

“I’ve been working really hard on my game and I want to be totally exhausted at the end of a game, because then I know I gave it my all for our team,” Murphy said. “I like running the ball a little more than catching it because I can run behind the hogs as I like to say. Our offensive line has gotten so much better and that is why we have our power line-up and just pound the ball on the ground.”

“When we get our running game going I believe we are really hard to stop,” Harding said. We have so many different weapons and how about that quarterback sneak for over thirty yards, that was phenomenal.

“Now we get the opportunity to bring up 23 players from our undefeated conference sophomore team and they will get to experience playoff football. We are in and now anything can happen. Our motto is to be 1-0 at the end of each week. We get the opportunity to play week 10 and be 1-0.”