Brendan Boudreau runs for three TDs, La Salle-Peru’s ground game overpowers Plano

PLANO – Brendan Boudreau goes by the nickname “Buddha” with his La Salle-Peru teammates because it’s easier to pronounce.

It is not hard to comprehend Boudreau and the Cavaliers’ offense.

With a stable of running backs, junior quarterback Boudreau included, running the option behind a big, physical offensive line, L-P comes at teams with brute force. And it was at its best Friday in Plano in a 47-14 win.

Boudreau ran for three first-half touchdowns, and the Cavaliers amassed 335 yards rushing to overpower the host Reapers in a Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 crossover contest.

“We had a good week of practice this week; I think it was the best week we’ve had so far,” said Boudreau, who ran for 46 yards on nine carries. “I just feel like last week, our game, we should have done better, even though we won. We wanted to prove today that we could move the ball.”

The Cavaliers (3-1) wasted no time imposing their will on a smaller Reapers defense, running a fullback dive with Maalik Madrigal on their first six plays from scrimmage. It set up Boudreau’s 1-yard QB sneak for the game’s first score. L-P could more or less have success with whoever touched the ball, but it started with the push it got up the middle.

“We wanted to set the tone,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “The kids came out ready to play. Putting points on the board, that’s what we wanted to do this week. Maalik ran hard, our offensive line, they really worked their butts off today and the score showed.”

Boudreau later took in an 8-yard keeper off the right side of the line midway through the second quarter. His 10-yard TD run up the left side gave the Cavaliers a commanding 26-8 halftime lead. L-P scored TDs on five of its eight possessions, the lone exceptions two first-half turnovers and the end of game kneel down.

“After the first drive I felt like the offense could move the ball, which we did most of the game,” Boudreau said. “We felt like if we could keep doing what we do we’d be fine.”

Plano (2-2) stood toe-to-toe with L-P in the programs’ most recent meeting, a 14-7 Cavaliers win in spring 2021. But Reapers coach Rick Ponx understood the uphill climb his group faced physically.

“They’re big, they’re more physical, we’re giving up 100 pounds on the line of scrimmage. It’s tough,” Ponx said. “We knew it would be a challenge. We thought we had some schemes that might slow them down a little bit, but at the end of the day ... it’s a physical game on the line of scrimmage. When you’re physically stronger, this is usually the way the ball bounces.”

Ponx’s Reapers got a brief jolt, courtesy of star junior Waleed Johnson. Johnson took a direct snap on the first play after Boudreau’s first touchdown and went 80 yards for a TD, and an 8-6 Plano lead after Johnson took in a two-point conversion with 7:18 left in the first quarter.

But the momentum was short-lived. L-P’s Mason Lynch took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a TD and 14-8 lead, and the Cavaliers never looked back.

“It’s great to have a kid like Mason Lynch back there that has that run back ability,” Medina said. “We got the momentum back in our favor and it kind of took the wind out of their sails.”

Johnson, meanwhile, managed just 48 yards over his remaining 19 carries against an L-P defense which quickly keyed on him. He finished with 128 yards rushing.

“They took 12 [Antonio Rodriguez], that linebacker, and just mirrored him up. Wherever Waleed went, 12 was right there,” Ponx said. “He’s a very good player, a good linebacker. And he wasn’t the only one. They had everyone keying on Waleed.”

Madrigal, who ran for 49 yards, added a 2-yard TD run in the second half, Brady Romagnoli scored on a 26-yard reverse and Kaleb Kennedy had an interception return for L-P’s final score. Antonio Martinez’s 16-yard TD pass to Nick Serio accounted for Plano’s other score.