By Fred Kroner
The unbeaten and state-ranked Mahomet-Seymour football team went on the road on Friday (Oct. 8) and made Peoria Richwoods its seventh consecutive victim of the season.
M-S jumped into a 41-7 halftime lead en route to a 54-28 non-conference victory.
The point total represented a season’s high.
Quarterback Wyatt Bohm was the architect in an offense that scored eight touchdowns and has now eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark in total offense for the year.
With rushing leader Luke Johnson sidelined for the season with a fractured fibula, Bohm achieved season-high totals for completions (20), attempts (34), passing yards (390) and touchdowns (five).
He connected with Quenton Rogers for three aerial strikes. Dream Eagle and Braden Pagel also hauled in TD passes from Bohm.
Rogers and Eagle each have 32 receptions for the season. Collectively, 15 of their catches have resulted in touchdowns.
“Coach (Keith) Pogue has been here 27 years and he said those two are the best (receiving) duo to come through Mahomet-Seymour,” Bulldog head coach Jon Adkins said. “If teams try to double-cover Quenton, we have Dream on the other side, and if they’re crazy enough to try and take both away, we have guys over the middle who can hurt you.
“Any time we can use those special weapons, we feel we have a chance to be successful.”
Nolan Nierenhausen got the call on 18 of the team’s 25 running plays – more than doubling his season’s total for attempts – and gained 64 yards while scoring three touchdowns.
Adkins expects to use a collection of squad members in the ball-carrying positions and has one set where two of the defensive anchors (Mitch Gallier and Mateo Casillas) are in the backfield together.
“We do a lot to get guys touches,” Adkins said.
Kyle Walmer made 5 of 7 extra-point attempts and Leif Olson was 1-for-1 on his conversion kicks.
The M-S offense has generated 3,054 yards in seven games, which totals to an average of 109 yards per quarter.
Bohm has thrown for 2,019 yards and 21 TDs. He is the fourth Bulldog quarterback to pass the 2,000-yard mark for a single season and is 324 yards away from breaking the M-S season passing record, established by Bodie Reeder in 2004.
He needs six TD passes to erase the school mark of 26 by Joe Kenney in 2013.
Bohm was working with a new snapper most of the game at Richwoods. Freshman Tyson Finch was called upon because, Adkins said, “he has a bright future and we wanted to get him some reps.
“Because our offensive line is so valuable, when we get a chance to rest those guys, we’ll take advantage of that. We were able to rest (center) Brayden Smith.”
Rogers has 773 receiving yards and nine TD receptions. Eagle has gains of 538 yards through the air and six TDs.
Rogers, who is averaging 24.1 yards per catch, is 404 yards away from the one-season Bulldog receiving mark of 1,176, set by Tom Kenney in 2014.
Gallier anchored the defensive effort, registering a team-high nine tackles. Casillas, Tyler Majeres and Kale Schweighart all ended with four tackles.
Ashton Heiser and Braden Houchin each contributed three tackles.
The Bulldogs’ defense has yielded 1,602 yards in seven games, an average of 57 yards per quarter.
The Richwoods game was a game-week replacement for Taylorville, which opted to forfeit its Apollo Conference contest. However, since M-S played another opponent, the Bulldogs will not receive credit for the forfeit from Taylorville on the official record.
Adkins heard some reaction that not accepting the forfeit was a “lose-lose.”
He never second-guessed the choice.
“I’m a players’ coach and the kids wanted to play,” Adkins said. “They only got six games last spring.
“Win, lose or draw, it’s about kids getting the opportunity to play football. I support the decision.”
Adkins didn’t believe that what would have amounted to a bye week would have been beneficial.
“We had things rolling and I didn’t want to jeopardize that,” he said. “We wanted to perform well and continue what we had been doing.”
Though Richwoods put four touchdowns on the scoreboard, Adkins said that three came after he had pulled his starters in the second half.
Among the unheralded Bulldog defenders is noseguard Hayden Marxmiller.
“He’s one of the most unselfish players we have, and we have a lot of them,” Adkins said. “He went from not seeing the field much (until Ryan Yancy suffered a season-ending injury), to getting double- and triple-teamed, which allows the linebackers to wrap up all of the stats.”
Gallier is one of the linebackers who has more freedom to attack the ballcarrier. He has 33 tackles.
“Mitchell is a bulldog through and through,” Adkins said. “He’s one of the hardest-working kids I’ve met, and you won’t find another kid who is more of a bulldog.”
M-S (7-0) and ranked sixth in Class 5A, returns to action on Friday for Senior Night at Frank Dutton Field in its final Apollo Conference game against Mattoon (3-4), which needs a win to stay playoff-eligible.
The Green Wave has plenty of incentive, besides trying to keep playoff hopes alive. Head coach Troy Johnson is retiring at season’s end.
“They still have a chance at second in the conference,” Adkins said. “We have to continue climbing the ladder. I guarantee they’ll come ready to play.”
M-S has 11 seniors who will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.
They are: Dream Eagle, Mitch Gallier, Ethan Grindley, Ashton Heiser, Will Jones, Hayden Marxmiller, George Moore, Nolan Nierenhausen, Logan Petro, Brayden Smith and Tyler Uken.
