Asher Hamby, Nathan Grant, Seneca dominate Vermilion Valley showdown with Iroquois West

GILMAN – The term “statement win” probably gets thrown around a little too often.

Friday’s 35-0 domination of also undefeated and also state-ranked Iroquois West, however, was most definitely a statement win for the Seneca Fighting Irish.

Seneca (5-0, 1-0 Vermilion Valley Football Alliance North) controlled the showdown with the Raiders (4-1, 0-1) at John Boma Field from start to finish, forcing an Iroquois West punt on the game’s opening possession, immediately taking the lead on an Asher Hamby 75-yard touchdown sprint up the east sideline and never looking back.

“We thought we could take advantage with our offense of some things we saw [on video], and it just really all came together,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “I told the guys before the game, this reminded me of a game back when I was in high school where we were playing a ranked team and nobody expected us to do much, and we executed our plan beautifully and came out on top. That’s what I felt we did tonight.

“Coach [Levi] Derber had a great defensive plan. [Iroquois West] has a heck of a team over there, they’re huge and their backfield is pretty special, and we did a great job against them.

“Credit to our kids for focusing and believing and following through with it. It was just a total team effort, a fun one.”

For the night, the Fighting Irish outgained Iroquois West 379-136 in yards from scrimmage, including a telling 335-95 on the ground, where both teams prefer to do the bulk of their damage.

Quarterback Nathan Grant (14 carries, 138 yards, touchdown runs of 5, 13 and 3 yards, Hamby (10 carries for 104 yards) and Braden Ellis (six carries for 57 yards) were the main beneficiaries of the fine work of the offensive line – tackles Aiden Wood and Josh Lucas, guards Matt Dillon and Chris Peura, center Brady Barla and tight ends Lane Provance and Kysen Klinker.

“We practiced rally hard this week, and we drilled a lot,” Grant said. “We just all came together and did a great job on defense ... and on offense, our O-line, they move people around, and we’re very deceptive with everyone doing a great job on their fakes.”

Grant also completed two of his three pass attempts, both to Klinker for 44 yards.

As impressive as the Seneca offense was in scoring touchdowns on four of its five first-half possessions en route to a 28-0 halftime lead, the performance of the Fighting Irish defense may have been even more jaw-dropping.

Casey Clennon, Paxton Giertz, Ellis, Hamby, Dillon Peura, Provance and Grant were all in on tackles for loss while holding the Iroquois West running game – led by Trystyn Schacht’s 16 carries for 43 yards and John Ahlden’s seven for 32 – to 2.8 yards per attempt. Grant also recorded a strip sack recovered by Ellis and recovered a fumble himself, while Hamby from his linebacker spot notched 13 1/2 tackles.

“Hats off to these guys,” Raiders coach Jason Thiele said of Seneca. “They’re a good team, man, and what they do they do really well. It showed tonight.

“The way that they played us, you could compare last year’s game to this year’s game, and they prepared to play us completely different.”

Iroquois West quarterback Sam McMillan was 7-of-7 passing for 41 yards, his top target being Damian Melgoza (four receptions, 26 yards). Schacht, Cort Leonard and Mason Miller recorded tackles for loss for the Raiders defense.

Collin Wright rushed for Seneca’s other touchdown on a 3-yard burrow just before halftime, while Giertz was a perfect 5 for 5 on extra points.

Already qualified for the program’s first playoff berth since 2019, the Fighting Irish will take their undefeated record back home to face Watseka next Friday night.

Iroquois West is scheduled for a road Vermilion Valley North game at Momence.

“No, 4-1′s not a bad place to be,” Thiele said. “5-0 gets you playoff eligible, but we’ll get it turned around. Still a lot of season left.”