Amboy seniors leave mark, Milledgeville’s run should be applauded: SVM notes

It was only fitting that Amboy’s four senior tailbacks — Josh McKendry, Ed Fry, Brayden Klein and Quinn Leffelman — had rushing touchdowns in the Clippers’ 42-14 win over Milledgeville in Friday’s Illinois 8-Man Football Association championship. It was Amboy’s second straight state title in 8-man after a third straight finals appearance.

“We wanted to control the line of scrimmage, and we felt we could,” Amboy coach Scott Payne said. “All four backs played really well.”

“It’s perfect,” McKendry said. “I couldn’t think of any other way to end.”

The senior-led Clippers led 20-0 at halftime and never looked back in the win. Try as they might, the Missiles just could not get enough stops to stay within striking distance.

“I think we burned through four defenses, maybe five defenses trying to stop the run, and we just couldn’t find an answer,” Milledgeville coach Jason Wroble said. “Again, that speaks to the quality of their line and their running backs and the blocking. We just couldn’t find an answer for the run game.”

It all came down to the experience and talent the Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio co-op brought to the table. The Clippers have gone 12-1, 13-0 and 10-3 the past three seasons – a 35-4 stretch. They even reached the state semifinals in 2021 after a 5-4 regular season.

“Senior leadership,” Leffelman said of what makes this group special, along with discipline. “We’ve been in this situation, and I think experience played a role in that.”

Senior QB Eddie Jones helped run the show on offense. He and classmate receiver Caleb Yanos connected on big plays throughout the season.

“We were very confident coming in,” Jones said, “and we just had one goal, and that was going back-to-back.”

“Ever since I was little, I always wanted to play for the Clippers and win a state championship,” Jones said. “Taking this at the end of senior year, it means the world.”

Klein said the team’s run the last few years has been fueled by hard work. It’s been a special group that made its own mark.

“We have a wonderful coaching staff. They just coach us to be good players and good teammates and pick each other up when someone’s down,” he said, “and just be a team. Bend, don’t break.”

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Amboy’s Caiden Heath celebrates after defeating Milledgeville Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in the 8-man football championship in Monmouth. (Alex T. Paschal)

Livengood, Missiles maximized their season: After reaching the state finals for the first time in school history, Milledgeville’s run should not be overlooked. Just as Amboy defeated undefeated Pawnee to get to the title match, Milledgeville (11-2) took down undefeated Polo (11-1) in its semifinal game. The victory also avenged the Missiles only regular season loss when they fell 30-14 in Week 6.

In the quarterfinals, Milledgeville beat last year’s runner-up Ridgewood 16-12. The Spartans were the only team to beat Amboy this season, winning 34-22 in Week 5 to snap Amboy’s 17-game winning streak.

A big aspect to Milledgeville’s playoff run, along with the defense, was junior quarterback Karter Livengood, who transitioned under center after playing receiver most of the season as the Missiles used multiple players at QB.

Wroble said the team discussed having Livengood at QB during the preseason, but decided to wait. The speedy junior provided an extra spark during the postseason run as he accounted for multiple touchdowns.

“After the Polo game (loss on Oct. 7) we were like, ‘Maybe we’ve got to make a few changes,’ ” he said. “We sort of held [Livengood] in our back pocket until playoffs, when we needed it. It was a big reason we got here.”

Wroble said Livengood is one of the Missiles’ best players.

“You want the ball in his hands and he responded well,” Wroble said. “I thought our defense in the postseason against a good Cambridge team and a good Polo team, really stepped up. We just fell a little short [against Amboy].”

“It was a hard-fought game. Amboy is a really good football team. I thought we fought the whole way through. It was still a phenomenal season. We’re a small team, and we came down here and represented our community well.”

Livengood said he was able to take command of the team and help provide a calming presence.

“I’m thankful for my teammates to help me out in this role,” he said. “Obviously a new position. I’m thankful for the coaching staff for putting me in a place to succeed.”

Livengood said the loss stings, but the bar has been raised for the future.

“We made history this year, but that’s going to be the standard next year,” Livengood said. “Everyone’s got to come out and work, and we’ve got a lot of seniors to replace.

“It’s going to be a sour taste for a few weeks, maybe months, but it’s just going to give us more firepower to come back next year and work even harder.”