DeKalb survives Kaneland's late rally

Hosting an undefeated DeKalb team Friday night that averages 46 points a game, Kaneland didn't have much room for error hoping to snap a rare 2-game losing streak.

Kaneland did a number of things right, moving the ball through the air like some of the vintage Knights teams and showing plenty of heart after falling behind by 17 points early in the fourth quarter.

Junior quarterback Jake Marczuk rallied his team, scoring on an 18-yard run and then lofting a 61-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Connor Fedderly down the right sideline.

That brought Kaneland within 37-34 with four minutes left, and after a bizarre series that saw the Barbs commit four straight penalties to get into a 2nd-and-47, the Knights got the ball back with 41.1 seconds remaining and a chance at an improbable comeback win.

Alas, that thin margin for error struck again, DeKalb's Thomas Lowie intercepting Marczuk. It was the third interception of the game on an otherwise stellar night for Marczuk, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 420 yards, 2 passing touchdowns and another score rushing.

Twelve of those completions went to Fedderly, who had a career night, finishing with 294 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.

"We have a lot of kids who like to fight and that's the best thing you can ask for in a team. It's really fun to play with people like that," Fedderly said.

"That's (DeKalb) one of the best teams we are going to play. I've been playing for three years now on varsity and that's one of the most talented teams I've seen. All the respect goes to them. They are a great team and we played really good and improved from last week (a loss to Yorkville) which was good to see."

The records for Kaneland (2-3, 0-2 in the Northern Illinois Big XII East) and DeKalb (5-0, 2-0) are reversed from where they usually are as the Barbs continued their quest for its first conference title since 1989. All it took was a look at the size and the intensity of the DeKalb crowd to know what a big game this was.

"It's a huge win for us, we've never beat Kaneland, it's a huge conference win for us," DeKalb sophomore quarterback Derek Kyler said. "It was pretty scary toward the end, it ws very nerve-racking, but we came through and won."

While DeKalb's slew of talented skill position players start with Illinois commit Dre Brown (23 carries, 170 yards - not counting a 68-yard touchdown called back), it was Eriq Torrey who took the first handoff of the game 63 yards on a jet sweep for a quick 6-0 DeKalb lead after Danny Hammermeister blocked the extra point.

Kaneland actually ran 24 plays in the first quarter to just 3 for DeKalb but after two long drives settled for a pair of Drew Franklin field goals, leaving the game tied at 6-6 after a quarter.

DeKalb built a 22-13 halftime lead as Kyler ran for a score and threw to Rudy Lopez for the other.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, and when Brown burst 14 yards up the middle for another Barbs score on the first play of the fourth quarter, DeKalb was up 37-20 with the outcome looking decided.

The Knights had other ideas. After neither team punted in the first three quarters, Kaneland held three straight times in the fourth, and the offense scored twice.

Clinging to a 37-34 lead and trying to run out the clock, DeKalb picked up one first down getting the clock down to two minutes. But then came the series of a false start, two holding penalties - including one that wiped out a 38-yard completion - and another false start.

"We made some good plays but unfortunately they were just calling some penalties on us that kind of pinned us way back," DeKalb coach Matt Weckler said. "That happens. Our kids were playing their hearts out."

Unfortunately for Kaneland, the clock ran after one of the penalties. The Knights used all their timeouts and got the ball back at their own 27-yard line but Marczuk's second pass of the drive was intercepted.

While DeKalb overcame 12 penalties for 112 yards, the Knights would like to have back a 4th-and-3 play they jumped offsides on that kept a Barbs touchdown drive alive, and their problems on kick coverage that repeatedly set the Barbs up in great field position.

"That's a really talented team and we were so nervous kicking off every time," Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly said. "What weapons they have. We knew we were going to have to score some points and we felt like our offense could come back no matter what."

Tyler Paulson caught 4 passes for 69 yards and Tanner Robertson grabbed 4 passes. Along with Fedderly the trio made several catches over the middle, holding onto the ball while taking hits from the DeKalb safeties that resulted in multiple personal fouls.

"We just said catch the ball and if they want to hit us in the head it's 15 more yards," Connor Fedderly said. "We just said catch the ball and be tough."

"He's (Connor) been on our sidelines since he could barely walk and he's seen a lot of good players that he's wanted to be like," Tom Fedderly said.

"I'm really happy for him. He's worked really hard."