Hinsdale Central knocks out Benet
The last time Hinsdale Central's football team won a playoff game it propelled the program into the state title game in 2008.
The Red Devils have a long way to go to reach that point, but it still felt good to finally win again in the postseason.
Hinsdale Central's offense exploded early and the defense took control from there in Saturday's 28-11 victory over visiting Benet in the opening round of the Class 8A playoffs.
"We talked about that quite a bit this week," Red Devils coach Dan Hartman said of his team's playoff victory drought. "That was a big focus for everyone. We had a pretty good week of practice, and the kids came out and did a nice job."
Third-seeded Hinsdale Central (8-2) advances to play No. 2 Simeon (9-1) in a road game likely to be played Saturday.
Matt Rafferty powered Hinsdale Central's offense, completing 11 of 20 passes for 254 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Red Devils scored twice in three first-quarter plays - 80-yard and 43-yard bombs from Rafferty to Thomas Ives separated by an interception by Dylan Goss - while bursting to an early 14-0 lead.
"Spotting them two touchdowns doesn't help," said Benet coach Pat New. "It's a shame we couldn't have kept it closer. Our game is really trying to control the ball and get the ball to (running back Brad Sznajder) as much as possible. When you fall behind like that it makes it kind of tough, but it's a team loss. We just didn't click on all cylinders today."
Alex Byrnes intercepted Benet sophomore quarterback Jack Sznajder twice in the second quarter as the Red Devils built a 21-3 halftime lead on Rafferty's 12-yard scoring strike to Ryan Doney. Matt Tromp put No. 6 Benet (6-4) on the board with a 33-yard field goal.
The lead grew to 28-3 in the third quarter on Rafferty's 16-yard touchdown pass to Brad Huth.
"We love coming out early," Rafferty said. "Give our defense even more confidence than they already have. Benet obviously has a great offense, great running back, great QB. They came out and stopped them."
Record-breaking Benet running back Brad Sznajder played well in his final high-school game, carrying the ball 27 times for 157 yards. He scored the Redwings' lone touchdown on a 5-yard run midway through the fourth quarter. Jack Sznajder completed 11 of 22 passes for 125 yards while Juwan Edmond led Hinsdale Central's ground game with 65 yards on 22 carries.
"We improve week to week," Ives said. "We still haven't played a full four quarters of what we're capable of. Hopefully, we'll piece that together further down the road."
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