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Seniors send Kaneland out a winner

On Senior Night at Peterson Field Friday night, it was fitting that two seniors shined to lead host Kaneland to a 33-6 Northern Illinois Big XII East Conference win over Rochelle.

Seniors Connor Fedderly and Isaac Swithers played their final game for the Knights, but they definitely did their part to make it memorable. Fedderly hauled in two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Jake Marczuk and Swithers added another two scores on the ground.

"This game meant a lot to us (as seniors)," Fedderly said. "We knew we weren't going to make the playoffs, but we wanted to end the season on the right note. We felt like we played like a classy team all year, and we're really happy with all of our seniors. And then with Isaac (Swithers) and I scoring two touchdowns, that's just awesome."

"It's (the year) meant a lot to me," Swithers said. "It's been great playing with all of these players. They all played their tails off and really stepped up this year."

While only a junior, Marczuk felt he learned a lot from his senior teammates and looks forward to carrying the torch next year and leading the team as a senior himself.

"The seniors led the way this year, but next year we've got to fight hard and be in every single game and find a way to overcome it," Marczuk said. "I'll remember every single one of the seniors and it was truly a blessing playing with them this year. Next year I'll remember them and I'll play in honor of them."

The Knights wasted no time getting on the board, marching methodically down the field on their first possession to score on a Marczuk's first touchdown pass to Fedderly from 13 yards out. The 8-play, 59-yard lasted all of three minutes.

Kaneland (4-5, 1-4) added a field goal to take a 10-0 lead just before the first quarter ended, but Rochelle (3-6, 1-3) used a 14-play drive that ended on a 1-yard touchdown run by Adam Ricketts to bring the score to 10-6.

With just under three minutes left in the first half, the Knights drove to the Hubs 17-yard line, but a Riley Williams sack of Marczuk on second down had Kaneland facing third-and-16 with just over a minute left in the half. Marczuk bypassed his first read, rolled to his left, and threw a bullet to Fedderly, who caught it in the front corner of the end zone and kept both toes in bounds to complete the score.

Midway through the third quarter, Drew Franklin added his second field goal of the night to give the Knights a 20-6 lead.

The fourth quarter belonged to Kaneland and Swithers. Swithers capped a 5-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run just as the final quarter started, and three minutes later, the senior found the end zone again from 31 yards out to give the Knights their final score and a 33-6 lead.

Coach Tom Fedderly thought the seniors led by example of fighting through adversity.

"We told them (after the game) that we're really proud of their effort," Fedderly said. "They gave us everything they had all year long and we lost four games by a total of 16 points. These last two games showed a lot of character by our kids. They could have easily just not played very hard, but they gave us everything they had. I'm really happy for Swiss (Isaac Swithers) ended up the season. He tore his ACL the second play of the season, and then to see him running like that tonight - it's just a really special night for the kid and a really special night for our seniors, so I'm really happy for them."

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