Bulldogs remain undefeated with win at Quincy Notre Dame
By Fred Kroner
The undefeated Mahomet-Seymour football team took a 3-hour road trip on Friday (Oct. 1) and turned in its most dominating performance against another state-ranked opponent.
The Bulldogs, ranked 10th in Class 5A, shined on offense and defense, blitzing ninth-ranked (Class 4A) Quincy Notre Dame, 41-0.
M-S got the running clock to start with 4 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter, eclipsing the mandatory 40-point mark on Wyatt Bohm’s 70-yard scoring strike to Quenton Rogers.
The Bulldogs amassed a season-high 562 yards of total offense while holding Notre Dame to 172 total yards.
M-S coach Jon Adkins was not surprised.
“With this group, anything is possible,” Adkins said. “We had to be mentally and physically tough.
“We flat-out outplayed them and out-coached them. We sent a message to the state: We are for real and are not a fluke.”
Bohm completed 17 of 31 passes for a season-high 367 yards.
Rogers turned his seven receptions into gains of 215 yards, the second-best single-game receiving effort in school history. Rogers trails only Tom Kenney, who had 230 receiving yards in a 2014 game.
“Quenton is a special kid and QND maybe didn’t watch enough film,” Adkins said. “When you try to single-cover Quenton Rogers, it’s going to be a long night for opposing teams. He shined.”
Valient Walsh caught four passes for 56 yards and Dream Eagle had three receptions for 39 yards.
Rogers scored the game’s first TD, with 2:15 left in the opening period, on a 25-yard run.
Placekicker Kyle Walmer hit the first of five extra points, lifting M-S into a 7-0 lead.
Luke Johnson’s 3-yard scoring run in the second quarter marked the only other time the Bulldogs reached the end zone before halftime.
M-S’ explosive offense generated four TDs in a 6-minute stretch of the third quarter, creating the running clock.
“One thing that benefits us is that we platoon, and when we come out in the third quarter, we are fresh and ready to go like at the beginning of the game,” Adkins said. “In the third quarter, we put the throttle down.”
The scoring spree started when Mitch Gallier raced 53 yards with a fumble recovery.
Barely a minute later, Gallier hauled in a 15-yard pass from Bohm.
A defensive catalyst, Gallier is only used on offense in certain red-zone sets. For the season, he has touched the ball six times on offense and scored three TDs.
“Mitchell is a leader and a captain for a reason,” Adkins said. “He is our heart and soul. We go as he goes.
“He played an incredible game. In addition to the pass reception over the middle, he had a couple of great blocks for Luke. He deserves everything he gets.”
Johnson, who rushed for a game-high 80 yards, also scored a second-half touchdown. However, an ankle injury is likely to sideline the Bulldogs’ rushing leader (634 yards and a 5.7-yards per carry average) this week.
Rogers ended with 278 all-purpose yards, including 46 rushing and 17 on a kickoff return.
Bohm’s 1,629 passing yards finds him just 11 shy of moving into M-S’ top five for season passing yardage. With 16 TD passes, the junior is tied for the sixth-best one-season mark.
Bohm was intercepted three times, but Adkins said two of the picks were, “incredible plays by the QND defender.
“When you give Wyatt protection, with the athletes around him, he will light you up. It was another overall good performance.”
Two Bulldogs picked off passes. Braden Houchin intercepted his second pass of the year and Jake Waldinger had his first pick.
The tackling leaders were Gallier and Ashton Heiser, with four stops apiece. Ethan Grindley had three tackles. Finishing with two tackles apiece were Johnson and Mateo Casillas.
Other fumble recoveries, besides the one by Gallier, belonged to Kale Schweighart and Tyler Uken.
M-S (6-0) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 8) at Peoria Richwoods (1-5).
Originally, M-S had an Apollo Conference game at Taylorville set for Friday (Oct. 8), but the Tornadoes had 17 players in uniform for their recent 34-28 loss at Charleston, and contacted M-S on Sunday forfeiting the upcoming game.
Before accepting the outcome – a guaranteed win and a 7-0 season record – Adkins called a meeting with his seniors.
“I said, ‘Here’s the deal. You played six games last year. Do you want to play (this week)?” he said. “It took maybe two seconds and it was unanimous. They said, “we want to play.
“They want to actually try to win rather than have someone give something to them.”
The Taylorville game will be stricken from the record. The outcome of the game at Richwoods will be the only one included on the school’s season record for this week.
Richwoods had an opening because its scheduled opponent, Urbana, canceled its football season after one game.
“We thank them for wanting to play. The kids are definitely the winners in this situation,” said Adkins, who expressed some disappointment with Taylorville, which has a 2-4 season record.
“If we were 0-6, they would be playing, no doubt. Absolutely (the M-S win at QND) was a factor.”
The Bulldogs are 4-0 in Apollo Conference play and clinched the league title, even though the QND game was non-conference. Mount Zion dropped a one-point decision last Friday, giving it two league losses. M-S has just one league contest yet to play.
