Forreston scores every time it has ball in win over St. Bede

PERU – The Forreston Cardinals don’t do anything new, but it sure is special.

The Cardinals scored every time they touched the ball, utilizing their trademark double-tight double-wing, pound-the-ball running game, en route to a 46-22 win over the St. Bede Bruins in a Class 1A playoff opener Saturday afternoon at St. Bede Academy.

“You can thank some of our ancestors for that [running game]. Some of the guys who started that before me. So yeah, that’s who we are. That’s our identity,” said Forreston coach and alum Keynon Janicke (’12) in homage to former Forreston coaches Dennis Diduck and Kyle Zick, whom he played for.

“We controlled the ball, we controlled the time, exactly what we wanted to do. Usually we’re no-huddle and we’re moving. We decided the last couple weeks to slow it down a little bit. So yeah, exactly what we want to do.”

The Cardinals (6-4) will host No. 2 Chicago Hope Academy in second-round play. The Eagles defeated Chicago Corliss 69-0 on Friday.

Forreston ran eight straight running plays down to the St. Bede 18 after receiving the opening kickoff. A penalty pushed it back to the 28, but quarterback Brock Smith tossed a TD strike to Kaleb Sanders from there, and Johnathen Kobler added the conversion run.

The Cardinals opted for an onside kick, recovering at the Bruins’ 38. Six plays later, Kaleb Sanders cashed in with a 10-yard touchdown. Sanders also scored on the conversion to give the Cardinals a 16-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first quarter.

A 15-play, 77-yard scoring drive netted the Cardinals a 13-yard touchdown by Smith to send the Cardinals to intermission with a 24-0 halftime lead.

The Bruins had opportunities to score, but came away empty-handed on four incomplete passes just outside the red zone.

“We had some uncharacteristic things,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “They drive, and they were just squibbing the ball down there, wasn’t even an onside kick. You know how those go. Hits you in the pads and bounces off, and they get it again and we’re down two scores before we even get a chance.

“Then we march down, shoot ourself in the foot with some uncharacteristic drops. Some uncharacteristic penalties. Next thing you know, we’re down three scores. To not get it in there before the half ... I don’t know what it was. Playoff atmosphere, but we made uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half, and it got too far out of reach for us.”

St. Bede (7-3) finally got on the board with an 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive on the legs and arm of John Brady.

The Bruins senior quarterback rushed eight times for 27 yards and passed for a 14-yard gain before scoring on an 11-yard run. Brady passed to Ben Wallace for the conversion to make it 24-8.

Forreston used a heavy dose of Kobler, who ran on four of the Cardinals’ first five plays, before busting off a 37-yard touchdown.

Forreston fans hardly got done cheering that play when the Cardinals intercepted a Brady pass on first down. Three plays later, Kobler busted loose for a 28-yard touchdown, a run described by a Forreston fan as “Big boy football.”

The Cardinals racked up 288 yards rushing, led by Kobler, who gained 149 yards on 17 carries.

“This was a total team effort, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes,” Janicke said. “I think looking at our record being 5-4, we definitely made too many mistakes this year, but we came here, we took care of the ball, special teams wasn’t an issue and did exactly what we prepared to do. So very proud of our guys.

“St. Bede is a great host team. They had us a little worried in the second half with some of the things they were doing. I’m glad we came out of here with a win.”

Brady passed for two more touchdowns, a 20-yarder to Thomas Makransky, and a 16-yarder to Ben Wallace to close out the Bruins’ scoring. Brady finished with 150 yards rushing on 21 carries and passed for 154 yards.

At 6-4, Forreston may be considered an underdog in this year’s playoffs. Then again, it has won three state championships in the past five seasons.

“That’s completely fine by us. I think people will still know we’re Forreston, and we’re going to give them a fight,” Janicke said.

Eustice is not one who took Forreston lightly as a 5-4 team.

“We knew they were a lot better than the 5-4. We watched tape on them. They were three or four minutes, honestly, of being a 7-2, 8-1 team,” he said. “We thought we could stop them a couple times, and we ended up not stopping them once. They just execute, move the ball forward, and we have to be stronger. We have to be another level of strength so we can compete with teams like this.”

Eustice said the St. Bede seniors had a season and career to be proud of.

“Their varsity careers from sophomore year to senior year, they were 20-7 ...” he said. “This is going to hurt for a while for them. We just had so much fun this year. It always sucks when it ends. I think at the beginning of the year you’ll be 7-2 and you’re going to host a playoff game, we would have signed up for that.”