Bradley-Bourbonnais rallies to beat Jacobs

ALGONQUIN – Down four starters coming in and 14 points in the first half, and a long way from downtown Bourbonnais, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ football players needed someone or something to get them up.

Quickly.

Lyzale Edmon provided it.

The speedy junior returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter to give life to the visitors, and senior quarterback Gavin Kohl provided the go-ahead score late in the fourth to cap No. 17 seed Bradley-Bourbonnais’ come-from-behind, 34-27 win over No. 16 Jacobs in a Class 7A state playoff opener Friday night.

“It could have went two ways,” Kohl said of the Boilermakers’ 14-0 deficit that was the result of two touchdown runs by Jacobs’ Caden DuMelle. “It could have went blowout. It could have went where we fight back and see what happens. ... Lyzale, he’s just one of those guys who’s really special with the ball.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais improved to 8-2 and will host No. 1 Whitney Young (10-0), a 13-12 winner over No. 32 Kenwood, in Round 2. Jacobs finished 7-3 in seeing its five-game winning streak snapped.

“It was just a combination of things – our special teams, offense, defense,” said DuMelle, the junior fullback/linebacker who scored three TDs and rushed for 119 yards on 21 carries. Mike Cannady added 109 rushing yards on 16 carries, and T.O. Boddie rushed 17 times for 108 yards for Jacobs. “It was a great game, a great battle by them. But we could have stepped it up.”

DuMelle’s third TD with 4:03 left in the third quarter snapped a 20-20 tie, but the Boilermakers responded on their next series. Freshman Kyren Edmon (Lyzale’s brother) scored from 1 yard out, and it was 27-27 with 1:10 to go in the third.

Back came Jacobs, marching from its own 24 to the B-B 4. But on fourth-and-goal from the 4, the Golden Eagles called a play-action pass. Quarterback Connor Goehring collided with one of his players in the backfield and threw incomplete. On the previous play, DuMelle got the wind knocked out of him and had to sit out the fourth-down play.

Jacobs coach Brian Zimmerman said he didn’t want to try what would have been about a 21-yard field goal to snap the tie, as the Eagles have had recent troubles with their kicking game.

“I didn’t feel confident at that moment to go for the field goal,” Zimmerman said. “I felt good about our offense.”

After B-B made its defensive stop, the Boilermakers took over at their own 4. Kohl engineered a 10-play, 96-yard drive that he capped with a 24-yard burst to break the 27-27 tie with 3:58 left.

“If [Jacobs] scored and we got the ball, or if we got the ball by making the stop, we were thinking let’s just go punch it in,” Kohl said. “Kudos to the offensive line. They created holes and we just went with it.”

The Boilermakers’ drive ate up more than five minutes on the game clock and featured all runs, including six for 64 yards by Kohl, who finished with 122 rushing yards on 13 carries. Kohl earlier threw TD passes of 15 and 34 yards to Lyzale Edmon.

“They got so many weapons on offense,” said B-B coach Mike Kohl, Gavins’s dad. “We wanted to milk the clock a little bit longer. I was hoping we wouldn’t score so quick. I was hoping to kick a field goal with no time on the clock.”

Instead, with ample time on the clock, Jacobs marched from its 26 after the ensuing kickoff to the B-B 25. But on fourth-and-11, Boilermakers sophomore cornerback Rontez Smith broke up Goehring’s pass in the end zone as time expired.

“We graduated 26 seniors last year, so to get this one on the road was a lot of fun and great for our community,” said Mike Kohl, whose missing players included wide receiver Ty Alderson and free safety Owen McCarty, both out with injuries. “We have a great home atmosphere, so next week being at home is going to be fun.”

Jacobs’ night included Boddie’s kickoff return for a TD late in the first half being erased by a holding penalty. Kyren Edmon’s 56-yard kickoff return, after the Eagles went up 27-20, resulted in the Boilermakers’ eight-play, 21-yard scoring drive that Kyren Edmon finished.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot tonight,” Zimmerman said. “This one stings a little bit. ... We told them: All three phases need to be played to win the game. Kudos to [Bradley-Bourbonnais] for making some great plays on special teams.”