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Kaneland snaps four-game skid against Barbs with 21-20 win
MAPLE PARK – A second straight DeKalb comeback just wasn't in the cards – the Kaneland defense made sure of it.
After Chaz Shaw pounded the ball in from 1-yard out with 5:50 left to give Kaneland the lead, the Knights' defense came up with a three-and-out, then the offense after the last 4:45 by converting two fourth downs in a 21-20 win.
The victory snapped the Barbs' four-game winning streak against Kaneland.
"This is unbelievable," Kaneland defensive lineman Drew Hahn said. "Since I've been in high school we hadn't beat DeKalb. Even the year before that we didn't beat DeKalb. So it's been four or five years since we beat this team, and it's an unbelievable team. It was down to the wire in order to beat these guys. It's probably the best team we've seen all year, you have to give them credit. But our guys played four quarters of Kaneland football. Every single one of our guys did their job and it showed on the scoreboard."
DeKalb orchestrated a late comeback last week against Sycamore in a 17-14 win at Huskie Stadium, scoring with 13 seconds left. But this time they couldn't get their offense going in the fourth quarter, managing just two three-and-outs in the frame.
"In the other games we've made stops. In this game we didn't," DeKalb coach Matt Weckler said. "We made some penalties that kept the drives alive for the, and hats off to them. They did what they needed to do to make plays. Good for Kaneland."
Hahn had huge plays on both series. He sacked quarterback Trenton Kyler to force a third-and-11 on DeKalb's first series of the fourth, then he level Jaylen Hobson for a 2-yard loss on second-and-9 on what would turn out to be the Barbs' final drive.
"We just said we have to finish the game right now. And we could see in their eyes they wanted to do that," Kaneland coach Pat Ryan said. "We just buckled down and finished the game."
The Knights (4-1 overall, 1-0 Northern Illinois Big 12 East) were aided by a pass interference and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the Barbs (4-1, 1-1) on the same third-and-7 play on their scoring drive, going 54 yards for the go-ahead score.
"We did a lot of things tonight that were uncharacteristic of what we're all about as a football program," Weckler said. "We made way too many mistakes, way too many penalties. Hats off to Kaneland though. We came in here obviously not mentally ready to compete, and they took advantage."
On the final drive, Kaneland started by converting a third-and-inches from their own 48 to start. On the next set of downs DeKalb jumped offsides on a third-and-4 to give the Knights another first.
Then with the clock approaching 1 minute, Jonathan Alstott plowed up the middle for a 5-yard gain on fourth-and-4 to seal the win.
"That's a testament to a football team that wanted it more than we did," Weckler said. Alstott finished with 87 yards on 27 carries.
DeKalb entered the second half with a 13-7 lead and started driving. The Barbs reached midfield but Kyler was intercepted by Jimmy Marczuk. The DeKalb defense held the Knights to a three-and-out, then punter Jonathan Alstott pinned the Barbs back at their own 7.
Jalon Redmond went 93 yards on the first play from scrimmage to pad the lead to 20-7. He finished with a game-high 117 yards on 11 carries. Kyler finished 6 for 11 for 62 yards an two interceptions, while Kaneland quarterback Joe Smith was 13 of 26 for 113 yards and an interception.
Kaneland answered on the next drive with a 23-yard pass from Smith to Alstott to make the score 20-13.
Kaneland started the game marching down the field, converting three third downs of 9, 15 and 1 yards to get down to the DeKalb 28. But Joe Smith was picked by Michael Newman, and it was returned 68 yards down to the Kaneland 9-yard line.
Alstott chased Newman down to prevent the touchdown, but the Barbs scored on the first play on a 9-yard run by Jaylen Hobson.
In the second quarter, DeKalb converted another pair of big plays to open up a 13-0 lead. The Barbs were facing a second-and-27 at the Knights 48, but three plays later the Barbs had a touchdown. Kyler found Jordan Gandy for 17 yards. Then on third-and-10 Kyler found Siebens for 15 and the first. Kyler capped the drive with a 19-yard run for a score and a 13-0 lead.
Kicker Connor Tierney was hurt for the Barbs early in the game, and backup Ethan Cano missed the extra point kick.
"Our kicker went down, that definitely hurt us," Weckler said. "But at the same time we had a chance to score points and we didn't do it. I thought our defense played an exception football game for being on the field as long as they were."
After the Barbs stopped the Knights again, they took over on their own 4. On the first play Kyler was about to be sacked. He tried to throw it away but got hit as he went down, and the ball went right into the hands of Trevor Carlson who caught it for the touchdown.
Carlson added a huge backfield tackle on the next DeKalb series to force a loss on a screen to Gandy and a punt at midfield in the final couple minutes.
"It feels really good," Ryan said. "It's been four years since we beat them. We wanted to get over that hump. We felt like if we wanted to be a good team and be taken seriously this would be a big win for our program. We took a step in the right direction tonight."