By FRED KRONER
Defensive adjustments were needed – and made – before Mahomet-Seymour’s football showdown on Friday (Sept. 29) at Frank Dutton Field against Mount Zion.
The Apollo Conference clash matched the final two teams with undefeated records in league play.
Mount Zion quarterback Makobi Adams entered the game passing for an average of 291 yards per game as a senior, the state’s third-best total, according to Maxpreps.
The Braves send out a fleet of receivers that include junior Brayden Trimble, who recently received a scholarship offer from Iowa.
“Our game plan going in was to force them to run the football to beat us,” M-S head coach Jon Adkins said.
To make the run option more enticing for the opponent, the Bulldogs moved a linebacker (Ethan Esker) and placed him in the secondary, giving M-S six deep backs with just five players up front.
The results were even better than Adkins could have predicted.
M-S took sole possession of the conference lead with a 26-7 win over Mount Zion.
The Bulldogs held Adams to 135 passing yards on 13 of 31 accuracy. M-S intercepted three passes – all by Donovan Lewis – and reached the quarterback three times for sacks, one each by Jack Gallier, Jayvon Irwin and Henry Wagner.
It was the play of the secondary that was the brightest of the team’s bright spots.
Lewis was assigned to cover Trimble, but that was just one aspect of the task.
“They still had three other wideouts who are incredible,” Adkins said. “Colby (Crowley) rose to the challenge (of shadowing Grant McAtee). A lot of times he was in single coverage.”
Those two defensive backs, along with Esker, Brayden Garrett, Tyler Majeres and Evan Anderson responded with a series of stellar performances.
It started with Lewis, who is the first player in Adkins’ five-year tenure to intercept three passes in one game.
“He was always in the right spot,” Adkins said. “He stepped up to the challenge.
“We took a team that was averaging almost 400 yards a game (of total offense) and 38 points and held them to seven points. It was absolutely incredible.
Mount Zion wound up with 216 total yards.
“In big-time games, it calls for big-time players to have big-time performances.”
The Mount Zion touchdown, which narrowed the Bulldog lead to 12-7, came on a fourth-down trick play in the third quarter.
M-S responded by scoring on its next possession, expanding its lead to 19-7.
Adkins said the players in the secondary had plenty of help.
“Our box guys, there were just five of them, were getting pressure and were still able to do a great job not letting them establish the running game,” he said.
The Bulldog tackling leaders were Irwin (six), Crowley (four), Gallier (four), Majeres (four), Wagner (four) and Lewis (three).
The M-S offense played a vital role as well in keeping the defense fresh and limiting their time on the field.
The Bulldogs called running plays on 47 of their non-punting plays from scrimmage.
Senior Luke Johnson, who sat out the previous two games with an injury, was the workhorse. He carried the ball a career-high 30 times and gained 143 yards.
“Our five upfront did a good job creating the space he needed, and he got the tough yards,” Adkins said. “No doubt, he was a warrior.
“He’s one of the strongest, fastest and toughest kids in our program.”
Johnson and Cade Ashby (31 carries on Sept. 22) are the first two Bulldogs in Adkins’ tenure to be called upon to run the ball at least 30 times in successive weeks. The only other Bulldog with that many carries since Adkins became the head coach was Nolan Nierenhauser with 35 carries against Mattoon in the fall of 2021.
The Bulldogs had plenty of options to go with the workhorse Johnson. Brock VanDeveer was called upon eight times and rushed for three TDs and 66 yards.
VanDeveer is part of the backfield alignment in what the Bulldogs call their ‘Diesel Package,’ which is often used in goal-line or short-yardage situations.
“We felt we were very effective when we were in it, and when we had success, stayed in it,” Adkins said.
VanDeveer scored the first three M-S touchdowns, starting with a 5-yard run with 4:42 left in the opening period. He rumbled 43 yards on a dive play with 4;49 left in the second quarter, as the M-S lead went to 12-0.
With 8:39 left in the fourth quarter, he powered over from the 1-yard line.
Six minutes later, Johnson scored the clincher on a 4-yard jaunt. Placekicker Jackson Davis converted the final two extra-point attempts.
In the Diesel Package, Noah Frank is in the backfield essentially as a lead blocker and Lewis enters as the quarterback. He ran the ball twice for 18 yards.
M-S kept possession of the ball for 30 minutes and 34 seconds, allowing Mount Zion to have it for just 17:26. The Bulldogs had no turnovers.
When the Bulldogs ran their regular offense, Lucas Dyer was an efficient 10-for-16 passing (with no interceptions) and exceeded 100 passing yards for the sixth consecutive game.
He threw for 125 yards and increased his season total to 1,287 yards.
His primary receivers were Gavin Hammerschmidt (51 yards on two catches) and Trey Peters (48 yards on three catches). Also hauling in receptions were Raymond Long and Braden Pagel (13 yards apiece).
Dyer completed passes for first downs all three of the times when the Bulldogs went for it on fourth down.
M-S (5-1) enters its final home game of the regular season on Friday (Oct. 6) against Effingham (3-3).
It will be Senior Night and the Bulldogs will honor the 13 who are on their squad. Adkins said “the plan” is to have 12 in the starting lineup either on offense or defense.
The 13th senior, DeAndre Hughey, is injured and is not expected to play.
The other M-S seniors are Lukas Alstetter, Evan Anderson, Trevor Coit, Colby Crowley, Gage Decker, Jack Gallier, Jayvon Irwin, Luke Johnson, Ryken Kirby, Donovan Lewis, Tyler Majeres and Braden Pagel.
Though the Bulldogs are playoff-eligible after picking up their fifth win, Adkins said there are still other goals to attain.
“We want to send the seniors out the best way we can, and we don’t want to share (the Apollo title),” he said. “These seniors have not lost a varsity game on our home field.”
The one exception was Gallier, who was in the lineup for his first game as a freshman in the COVID season (played in the spring of 2021) and the Bulldogs were defeated by Effingham.
The home winning streak for M-S is at 18 games since the 21-7 loss to Effingham on March 19, 2021.
