Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs Fall Short in Heartbreaking 24-21 Playoff Loss to Sacred Heart-Griffin
By FRED KRONER
The defense was stellar. At times.
The offense produced big plays in key moments. At times.
Much of Mahomet-Seymour’s Class 5A football playoff game mirrored what the team did in the regular season.
Except the outcome.
In a back-and-forth game, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin rallied in the fourth quarter to capture a 24-21 first-round win on Friday night (Nov. 1) over the Bulldogs at Frank Dutton Field.
“You hate to see every year end,” M-S coach Jon Adkins said. “For me, this one was extra special. I’d gotten the chance to know these kids since they were in seventh grade.
“I’ve watched them grow up and mature. It makes you feel like you’re losing a son. These kids will do bigger, better and greater things in college. I hope their four years here developed them into being able to succeed in life once football is over.”
M-S led, 7-3, at halftime, continuing a defensive dominance. During the Bulldogs’ final seven games, they outscored opponents 241-12 in the first half, yielding just one touchdown in those seven opening halves.
The Cyclones scored the first two TDs after intermission and carried a 17-7 lead into the game’s final 6 ½ minutes.
The M-S comeback started on a 1-yard run to the end zone by Cade Ashby with 6 minutes and 14 seconds to play.
Jackson Davis’ conversion kick narrowed the gap to 17-14.
Davis then executed a successful onsides kick for the 11th time this season. Ethan Esker pounced on the ball for the Bulldogs.
“There’s no quit in them,” Adkins said. “They were fighting ‘til the very end.”
Four plays later, facing a fourth-down-and-nine from the Sacred Heart 48-yard line, Lucas Dyer went deep to Mason Orton for a 48-yard scoring toss.
The 21-17 M-S led lasted exactly 49 seconds.
The Cyclones came back immediately with a sideline pattern and regained the lead, 24-21, following a 78-yard scoring strike with 3:59 remaining.
On its final possession of the season, the Bulldogs generated two first downs before a Dyer pass was picked off by the Cyclones on their own 15-yard line.
“On the sidelines, you’d never know we were down,” Adkins said. “It was positive, with great energy. We kept giving it our all.”
Sacred Heart gained one first down after taking over with 2:14 remaining and then was able to run out the clock and move into a second-round game at home on Saturday (Nov. 9) against Joliet Catholic.
Bulldog right guard Noah Daniels was sidelined with an ankle injury late in the game. Brayden Lamb filled in, but the injury had an effect in a different way.
“Lamb is that awesome utility player,” Adkins said, “but we have packages where he is in as a tight end. It limited our extra-linemen packages. I wish we could have gone to a package with a sixth lineman.”
Dyer attempted a career-high 40 passes and completed 22 for 291 yards. He ends the season throwing for 2,677 yards and 30 TDs, both of which are second on the all-time M-S career leaders list.
“Lucas did great things for our program,” Adkins said. “He doesn’t have a lot of hype, but any college that gets him will be lucky.”
Dyer had eight games as a senior with 200, or more, passing yards. He is the third Bulldog quarterback with two seasons of at least 2,000 yards, following Joe Kenney and Wyatt Bohm. His 53 career TD passes are all-time at M-S.
Raymond Long grabbed seven receptions for 80 yards against Sacred Heart-Griffin and Orton totaled 77 yards on his three catches against the Cyclones.
Gavin Hammerschmidt – who scored the game’s first points on the fourth M-S possession after a 9-yard pass from Dyer – gathered five passes for 50 yards. Bryson Tiefenthaler caught five balls for 42 yards. Wade Manuel had 42 yards on two receptions.
Brock VanDeveer rushed for a team-high 43 yards on 10 carries. Ashby collected 36 rushing yards and Dyer ran for 31 yards.
Hammerschmidt’s TD catch started the scoring and capped a season-best 98-yard drive by the Bulldogs, who broke the 0-0 tie with 5:18 left before halftime.
“We’d been able to score at will (in other games),” Adkins said. “That was something we were not used to. Our kids stayed calm, cool and collected.”
Sacred Heart recorded its first three points on a field goal 32 seconds before halftime.
Adkins didn’t view those late points as a momentum shift towards the visitors.
“After they’d had a first-and-goal, that was a win for our defense,” Adkins said. “We thought that was a momentum-builder for us.”
On its first possession of the second half, M-S drove into the red zone, but came up short on a fourth-down running play.
Adkins wasn’t thinking about trying for a field goal, which would have kept the margin at a one-possession game.
“If we go up 14-3, that puts a lot of pressure on them being down two scores,” he said. “We wanted to put the dagger in.”
VanDeveer led the Bulldog defensive effort with 10 tackles. Beau Back, A.J. Demos, Esker and Henry Wagner – who recovered a fumble and had two sacks – all finished with five tackles. Noah Frank was in on four tackles. Cade Harrell registered three stops.
For the season, the top Bulldog tacklers were VanDeveer (55), Wagner (55), Esker (54), Back (48), Frank (42) and Jayvon Tompkins (32).
“Brock was in charge of our defense and ran the show,” Adkins said. “The Sacred Heart coach went out of his way after the game to tell me how special Brock was and that he was one of the best defensive players they had gone against.”
Davis will carry an active streak of 42 consecutive extra-point conversions into his senior season. He did not miss any point-after-touchdowns in the team’s final seven games.
“We’re lucky we get him for another year,” Adkins said.
Davis’ 55 extra points this year were just four shy of the school record total of 59 for a season, held by Kyle Walmer.
Davis finished second on the team in scoring with 58 points. Team-leader Ashby totaled 90 points on 15 touchdowns.
Trey Peters, who played in three games before sustaining a season-ending knee injury, scored 44 points. He was followed by VanDeveer (42 points), Hammerschmidt (36 points), Long (36 points) and Orton (36 points).
In all, 13 Bulldogs scored at least one touchdown this season.
Ashby led M-S in rushing (767 yards), followed by VanDeveer (241 yards) and Dyer (130 yards).
Hammerschmidt led the Bulldogs in both receptions (38) and yardage (635). Peters had 573 receiving yards and was followed by Orton (486), Long (470), Tiefenthaler (184) and Manuel (127 yards).
M-S finished the season with an overall 7-3 record. The three losses were by a combined 12 points.
“We’re so close,” Adkins said. “We’re on the verge. We’re competing with these (traditional powerhouse) teams.
“I’m proud of the kids and the program. When we reflect, we will realize how much we have been able to accomplish, taking the next step.”
The Bulldogs have won four consecutive unbeaten Apollo Conference titles and will carry a 23-game Apollo winning streak into the 2025 campaign.
“I took this job six years ago wanting to win a state championship and I truly believe we are on the right track,” Adkins said.
The M-S junior varsity squad finished with a 6-2 record as did the Bulldog freshmen.
