Eight-man state championship: Droste rushes for 179 yards and 3 touchdowns, nabs pick-6 to lead West Central past Amboy

MONMOUTH – The West Central Heat used a simple formula against Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio in the Illinois 8-Man Football Association state championship Friday night at April Zorn Memorial Stadium in Monmouth: run the football with their three-headed monster.

That approach proved pivotal in the 44-36 win, as running back Kaiden Droste, quarterback Mason Carnes and fullback Parker Meldrum combined for 36 carries, 275 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

[ Photos from the I8FA state championship game ]

After taking a quick lead in the first half, West Central (13-0) held serve the rest of the game, and was able to out together enough time-consuming scoring drives in the second half to salt the game away.

“It’s just amazing to know that I did what I did, but also we wouldn’t be here without this whole entire team. Our offensive line absolutely destroyed this game, and then in that second half, we just proved who we were,” Droste said. “We just pounded that ball inside; we weren’t really getting the outside looks that we were hoping to get, so we pounded it inside instead and just slowly worked the clock knowing that we had the lead, and we’d have the ball again if they scored.”

Droste rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns, and scored a 62-yard pick-six. Carnes rushed for 46 yards and two touchdowns, while Meldrum added 50 rushing yards.

Droste began the big day on West Central’s opening drive of the game, ripping off a 46-yard touchdown run up the middle after slipping three tackles. After Droste ran in the two-point conversion, the Heat led 8-0 with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter.

West Central recovered the ensuing onside kickoff at the Amboy 43-yard line, and quickly took a two-score lead. Droste capped the fast scoring drive with an 11-yard touchdown run on a counter left, then ran in the two-point conversion to go up 16-0 with 4:03 to play in the first.

Amboy (10-3) cut the deficit to 16-8 at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter. A third-and-4 pass interference penalty on a Tucker Lindenmeyer pass to Brennan Blaine over the middle moved the ball to the West Central 10; a couple plays later, Lindenmeyer found Blaine in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown off play-action. Lindenmeyer ran in the two-point conversion.

But it wouldn’t be a one-score game for long. West Central moved the ball 51 yards in just under two minutes, reaching the end zone again on an 8-yard Droste toss left. The score put the Heat ahead 22-8 with 5:52 to play in the half.

Lindenmeyer and Blaine made it a one-score game on the ensuing drive, shaving just over four minutes off the clock. Lindenmeyer made two cuts from the right sideline to the middle of the field on a 26-yard scamper on third down to reach the West Central 16, then took a keeper up the middle for a 7-yard score. A Lindenmeyer pass to Blaine added two points to the scoreboard, and Amboy cut the deficit to 22-16.

Amboy recovered the ensuing kickoff at the West Central 45 on an onside attempt, but the Heat scored on Droste’s pick-six right away to pull ahead 28-16. Droste spoiled the extra Amboy possession with the interception, snagging a late cross-body pass over the middle of the field before racing down the right sideline.

West Central led 28-16 at halftime, led by Droste’s 107 yards and four total touchdowns. But the Clippers felt like they were still in it, and came out of the locker room ready and raring to go

“At halftime, the coaches made us believe that the win was still there. We were only down by 12 points, and that’s nothing with what we’ve seen this whole season,” Lindenmeyer said. “So we came out with our heads high. We wanted a stop – we didn’t get it – but we kept our heads up and kept pushing.”

“We talked at halftime and said that one or two stops on these guys would turn it around. Their offense is so hard to stop, but one or two stops would make it a completely different game,” Blaine said. “We got one stop, and we scored, and if we just would’ve stopped them one more time, I just think we would’ve gotten it done.”

The Heat capped a 52-yard drive with a 1-yard Carnes touchdown run, seizing a 36-16 lead at the 10:36 mark of the third quarter, but the Clippers quickly responded, scoring 2:21 later.

Lindenmeyer found Blaine off play-action down the right sideline, then the big tight end stayed in bounds off a shove, tight-roping his way to a 23-yard touchdown. A Landon Whelchel option pitch scored the two-point conversion, and Amboy pulled within 36-24 with 8:15 to play in the third.

“We realized in the first half that the only reason they were up was our turnovers,” Whelchel said. “So we tried to overcome that, and we realized that we can actually do this. We just got together, and we just went ground and pound, and found a way to move the ball and get back in the game.”

The Clippers forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing West Central possession, and quickly capped a 40-yard scoring drive with a 4-yard Quinn Leffelman touchdown run. After a failed two-point conversion, Amboy was right back in it, trailing 36-30 with 2:40 to play in the third.

“Especially there in the third quarter, I think we caught momentum really good,” Blaine said. “I think if we would’ve played like that the whole game, it would’ve been a different outcome. I’m just proud of our guys. We played really hard tonight.”

West Central regained its two-score lead at 44-30 with 9:18 to play on another Carnes 1-yard sneak. Amboy answered to draw within 44-36 on an 8-yard Landon Whelchel touchdown run off the left side as 2:52 remained, but the long drive drained the chance to complete the comeback. The Clippers didn’t recover the onside kick, and then couldn’t get the defensive stop it needed.

“Our defense just worked our butts off there on the last couple of drives,” Droste said. “We pushed them to a six- or seven-minute possession and just forced so much time off of that clock. It was just amazing.”

A 4-yard Carnes run on third down sealed the win, and he kneeled the ball three times to kick off the West Central celebration.

Lindenmeyer passed for 122 yards and two touchdowns, both to Blaine, and rushed for 76 yards and a score. Blaine caught seven passes for 122 yards. Leffelman rushed for 56 yards and a score, and Whelchel added 53 yards on the ground with a touchdown run.

Lindenmeyer is the lone senior on the Amboy roster, and as much as it hurt to end his stellar career on a loss, he sees big things in store for the Clippers next season.

“Being able to play with this team has been special. This is a great group of boys, and they have a lot coming for them next year,” he said.