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Defeat puts ICCP on brink of playoff elimination

Riverside-Brookfield sent IC Catholic Prep down a hard road.

Losing 26-7 Saturday at Lewis Stadium in Elmhurst, IC must be perfect against Wheaton Academy, Glenbard South and Fenton to remain playoff-eligible.

"We've got to win out," said coach Bill Krefft, his Knights now 2-4 overall, 1-1 in the Metro Suburban Conference West Division. "So we're going to focus on Wheaton Academy, we're going to focus on this next game and more than anything we're going to focus on us and make sure we're getting better."

Healthier, too. Running back Jordan Rowell ran for 54 yards by halftime, 75 through three quarters, then left with a possible bruised thigh bone. Receiver Rhashaun Epting got knocked cold on a block by Riverside-Brookfield's 255-pound left tackle Nick Cundari. Linebacker Max Eichhorn suffered a dislocated shoulder on a third-quarter gang tackle and went to Elmhurst Hospital via ambulance.

Without them active 48 minutes Riverside-Brookfield (4-2, 2-0) had it a little easier.

In a rainy first half R-B led 7-0, the Bulldogs' Matt Chapp fielded a one-hop punt at his 18-yard line, veered left out of traffic and outran pursuit for an 82-yard touchdown return at 5:09 of the first quarter.

"We told the kids at halftime the team that runs the ball the best in this game is going to be the team that comes out on top," said Bulldogs coach Brendan Curtin.

Winning field position and using an offensive line that averaged 244 pounds, R-B went up 13-0 at 5:43 of the third quarter on 230-pound David Pribyl-Pierdinock's 2-yard dive.

The Bulldogs recovered a fumble after Adolfo Linares smashed IC receiver Patrick Jordan. then marched 82 yards in six minutes to score. Chapp, who ran for 102 yards, made a man miss on a 16-yarder for a 20-0 lead at 5:05 of the fourth.

The rain now gone, from IC's 18-yard line freshman quarterback Luke Ricobene completed 5 of 5 with big pass plays to Jose Rodriguez and Sean Packer to give the Knights first down at the R-B 4-yard line. Whereupon Bulldogs linebacker Mike McCabe returned the next pass 97 yards for a 26-0 lead.

Ricobene, who passed for 177 of his 235 yards in the fourth quarter, got IC on the board with 40.9 seconds left on a 27-yard pass to Jordan. Packer gained 113 yards on 5 receptions.

"The weather was pretty difficult to get some throwing in early, but it cleared up later," Ricobene said. "It was just a slow start, and we couldn't get it going (until) the end there."

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