West Hancock traveled to Wilmington on Saturday, Nov. 1, in the first round of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 2A football playoffs.
Wilmington won the toss and deferred to the second half.
West Hancock started at their own 13-yard line. Chandler Dadant had a one-yard run. Jordan Crowley caught a pass for 36 yards and a first down. Dadant had a two-yard run on first down. Hunter Froman picked up another first down with a 22-yard reception. Dadant was dropped for a two-yard loss on first down and Brayden Carter threw incomplete on second down. Dadant was thrown for a three-yard loss on third down but Froman caught a Carter pass for a 16-yard reception and a first down. Dadant had minus-one yard on his next two carries. Jess Scott caught a Carter pass for 12 yards and a first down. He then had runs of two and one yard to move the football to the one-yard line. The Titans were whistled for a false start and it backed them up to the six-yard line. Carter threw incomplete to Froman on fourth down to give the Wildcats the football. The West Hancock drive went 15 plays and 86 yards.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do on that first drive and we wanted to keep the football away from them as long as we could. We took it down to the one-yard line and their run defense is insane. And they turned us away,” Titans Head Football Coach Coy Dorothy said.
The Wildcats scored first on a Ryan Kettman 74-yard touchdown run where he broke Zane Tripp’s tackle attempt and sprinted into the end zone. Evan Ostheim added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
The next Titans drive started with Dadant and a four-yard run on first down. Carter threw incomplete on second and third down. On fourth down, Declan Moran jumped the route of a pass intended for Scott and returned it 29 yards for the pick-six. Ostheim kicked the extra point for a 14-0 Wildcats lead.
“Scott got jammed late in his route and Moran made a great jump and play on the football,” Dorothy noted.
The Titans were flagged for a false start on first down of their next drive. Dadant was stopped for a two-yard loss on first and 15. Scott caught a pass but was stopped for a one-yard loss. Carter threw incomplete on third down. West Hancock punted the football back to the Wildcats. Kettman took the handoff from Billy Moore and broke through the West Hancock defensive line and was off to the races, scoring from 51 yards out. Ostheim added a successful extra point to up the lead to 21-0.
Froman fielded the kickoff and then fumbled the football. It was recovered by Wilmington’s Travis Van Duyne to give the Wildcats great field position at the Titans’ 19-yard line. Hunter Kaitschuk had a six-yard run up the middle on first down. Kettman ran it from 13 yards out for the touchdown. Ostheim kicked his fourth extra point for a 28-0 Wildcats lead.
Carter threw a swing pass to Dadant and he was thrown for a six-yard loss. Carter threw incomplete on second and third down. Froman punted the football back to the Wildcats.
Kaitschuk got a 47-yard touchdown on the first play of the next Wilmington drive. Ostheim hit the extra point for a 35-0 cushion.
The Titans started their next drive at the 35-yard line. Dadant was dropped for a one-yard loss. Froman caught a Carter pass for 23 yards and the first down. Froman had another catch from Carter for 27 yards and as he went to the ground, he fumbled the football and it was recovered by Wilmington’s Brysen Meents at the 16-yard line.
The Wildcats scored on the fourth play of their next drive on a Kaitschuk seven-yard touchdown run. Ostheim’s extra point made for a 42-0 score with 4:08 to play in the half.
Froman caught a pass and the Wildcats whistled for a 15-yard facemask call. Scott ran for a gain of seven yards. Scott lost four yards on the next carry. Scott, on fourth and seven, caught a pass from Carter and got two yards to give the football back to Wilmington.
The Wildcats’ next drive featured Jay Nevels, who had runs of 33 and four yards before a five-yard touchdown run with 37.2 seconds to play in the first half. Ostheim added his seventh extra point of the game for a 49-0 advantage.
Dadant ran for two yards to end the half.
The Wildcats started the second half with the football and Dane Van Duyne ran the football in from 41 yards out on the first play. Ostheim added the extra point for a 56-0 score two minutes into the third period.
Dadant took the Carter handoff and was stopped for a three-yard loss on first down for West Hancock. Froman made a terrific one-handed catch good for 32 yards and a first down into Wildcats territory. Carter threw incomplete to Crowley on first down. Dadant was thrown for a five-yard loss by Travis Van Duyne on second down. Froman made another highlight reel, one-handed catch, this time good for 44 yards and a first down. Carter threw incomplete on first down and a one-yard reception by Froman on second down took the ball to the five-yard line. Carter called his own number and sprinted into the end zone for the touchdown. Crowley made a one-handed catch for the successful two-point conversion to make the score 56-8.
“We got two great one-handed catches from Froman and Carter scored the touchdown. Crowley with a one-handed catch for the two-point conversion. It felt good to get on the scoreboard,” Coach Dorothy said.
On the ensuing kickoff, Nevels made a huge return and Froman knocked the football away from him and it went out of bounds at the five-yard line to end the third quarter. Dane Van Duyne added a five-yard touchdown. Ostheim made the extra point for a 63-8 score.
Dadant was gang tackled for a two-yard loss on the first down for the Titans. Carter threw incomplete on second down. Scott caught a Carter pass and gained seven yards. On fourth and five, Carter overthrew Crowley to give the Wildcats the football.
On the Wildcats’ second play from scrimmage, Colin Strong ran the football in from 36 yards out to push the score to 69-8. Ostheim connected on his 10th extra point for a 70-8 score.
Scott got a five-yard catch from Carter on first down. Dadant added a five-yard sprint on second down. Dadant was stopped at the line of scrimmage for no gain on third down. Dadant ended the game with a run of 10 yards.
“It was a weird feeling driving to school today and knowing you weren’t going to have a practice today. It’s a sad day knowing that football season is over,” Coach Dorothy commented. “Wilmington is a well-coached team. They are a top-tier program and they are the best team we have seen this year by a lot. Our pass game was working for Froman with three one-handed catches in the game. The fumbles hurt us and when you go against a team like that you have to be perfect. You have to get stops and they have to have a bad game as well, to beat a team like that.
“It didn’t go our way. We had a tough draw and I couldn’t be more proud of the kids giving it everything they had the whole game,” he continued. “You have to tip your cap to Wilmington. They are historically a great program and win championships and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get another championship this year.”
Stats: West Hancock had 226 total yards on offense; 215 yards passing and 11 yards rushing for 17 first downs. Scott had four runs for nine yards. Carter had one run for five yards. Dadant rushed 16 times for no yards. Froman had one run for minus-four yards. Carter was 17-27 in the air for 215 yards and an interception. Froman caught seven passes for 159 yards. Crowley made four catches for 49 yards. Scott added four catches for 13 yards. Dadant made one catch for minus-six yards. Evan Smith and Froman made two tackles each. Zayden Sonneborn, Layton Conkright, Scott and Crowley each had a tackle. The Titans finish the season 6-4, their best record since the 6-4 record they had the last time they made the playoffs in 2018.