It all clicks for Larkin vs. West Chicago
It would've have been a shame if all the running Larkin did in practice this week in preparation for West Chicago went for naught.
Unfortunately for West Chicago, all the hard work the Royals put in with their new running plays paid off during a dominant 46-12 Upstate Eight crossover win at Memorial Field in Elgin Friday night.
The Royals (2-2), who reached the .500 mark after 4 games for the first time since 2013, weren't looking to pass against the Wildcats. And it turned out they didn't have to. Behind Kindrell "Nomo" Morris' 209-yard, 23 carry night that included 3 touchdowns, Larkin's 296 totals yards were largely accumulated by its 253 yards on the ground. Morris' 56-yard touchdown bolt on the game's third play for a 7-0 lead was a strong indicator of what was to come for West Chicago (0-4).
"(Coach Dragan Teonic) told us if the run works then we won't go away from it," Morris said. "They hit and bumped me and I didn't go down and I just kept running and found my way to the end zone. We could run whatever play we wanted to, (the offensive line) was blocking on all the run plays."
Already up 14-0 late in the first quarter after quarterback David Hibbler's 8-yard run, Morris dazzled again. On a pass from Hibbler, Morris got to the right edge after he broke 3 tackles, spinning twice on the last 2 in the midfield to convert a 15-yard passing score for a 20-0 lead with 28.5 left in the quarter.
"I can't believe some of the plays he made," Teonic said. "The pass he caught and the spin move, the juke, the spider move off the ground getting in. That surprised us a little bit. We know how good he can be but sometimes he makes these plays that just shock you. It's amazing."
The Royal defense was just as good. Linebacker Josh Matison recovered a fumble on the Wildcats' first play from scrimmage and his teammates followed suit with 6 sacks, including 2 each from Steven Sago and Hector Perez, as well as one each from Keone Mebane and Jeremy Gould. Sago also recovered a fumble and Denzel Goodwin's pick-six down the right sideline from 43-yards out on the first possession of the third quarter blew it open for a 33-6 Larkin tally.
"We were determined to get as many turnovers as possible and we succeeded," Matison said. "The defensive really brought the energy and set a tone that we were going to come through and the defense was going to put it on themselves to win this game."
Hibbler finished 5-for-9 for 43 yards passing with 2 touchdowns. The quarterback hooked up with receiver Kashmir Ivy on a 12-yard touchdown in the third quarter while Goodwin added a 2-yard TD rush late that ran the clock.
West Chicago's Devontae Pascal rushed 19 times for 87 yards while Jeremy Grant (7 rush, 13 yards) and Frank Aniello (5 rush, 46 yards) found the end zone to help total 139 yards, all via the run. In 3 games prior, the Wildcats had give up 8 turnovers (5 picks, 3 fumbles) and after their first offensive play, West Chicago already knew the plot.
"It's been the story all year," Wildcats coach Ted Monken said of the 3 turnovers. "We keep shooting ourselves in the foot and putting ourselves in a bad position. It's hard to be successful when we don't take care of the little details that help you."