CARTHAGE, Ill. — A rivalry matchup under the Friday night lights always gets the juices flowing. With the roar of the crowd behind them, the Illini West Chargers had a big test in front of them as they were hosting Farmington, the third-highest ranked team in Class 2A.
The Chargers were hoping to put on a good performance as Illini West honored its predecessor school before the Carthage-LaHarpe merger on the 25th anniversary of the Carthage Blue Boys 2000 state championship team.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, they weren’t able to pick up the win as they dropped their second in a row with a 35-0 loss to the Famers.
The Chargers were not able to get anything going on offense in the first half. Chargers quarterback Ethan Carlisle was sacked ending the Chargers first drive.
The Farmington Farmers would quickly go to work, as Farmers quarterback Jack Gronewold scored from 1-yard out to grab a 7-0 lead with 7:56 left in the first quarter. It would not get better for the Chargers in the first quarter as they didn’t get much going on the second drive after picking up a couple of first downs.
Illini West punted and Jack Gronewold took it the other way for his second score on the night as the Chargers found themselves down 14-0.
The Chargers would get a little bit of momentum on the kickoff as the ball was handed off to Caleb Schreacke as he returned the kick inside the 20 to give the Chargers some life. After gaining minimal yards on the next couple of plays, the Chargers went for it on fourth down and didn’t convert. That was the Chargers offense all night in a nutshell.
Chargers coach Jacob Calvin knew it was not going to be easy to move the ball throughout the night.
“Hats off to them and their defense,” said Calvin of Farmington’s defense. “We knew what the challenge was going to be. We have to look at film and see where we were short on some things. I don’t think it was one single issue; I think it was a combination of things. Hopefully we can get it fixed.”
The Chargers defense made some plays to try and get the offense going. Chargers defensive back Keagan Walker picked off a Farmington pass, giving the Chargers good field position. The opportunity quickly slipped away, as Carlisle was intercepted by Gronewold. He was all over the field for the Farmers.
Carlisle was replaced by Liam Murphy after suffering an injury. Despite a valiant effort by the Chargers defense, they found themselves down 28-0 at halftime.
“The defense came out and put up a fight in the second half,” Calvin said. Our defense didn’t do terrible, but there are always things to improve. We’ll watch the film and see what we can fix.”
At the start of the second half, it looked like at the very least, the Chargers were going to avoid being shut out. They forced a fumble on the opening drive to get some early momentum. The Chargers got inside the 20-yard line, and they couldn’t get closer than that.
The Chargers continued to beat themselves. They dropped the snap on multiple occasions resulting in busted plays that didn’t pick up any yards. If the Chargers fix those mistakes, they have a chance in their next game.
The Chargers drop to 2-2 on the season and will have an opportunity to get back on track when they take on the West Hancock Titans at home on Friday, Sept. 26. They’ll look to get back above the 500 mark.