Jordan’s Road Trip: Peotone vs Herscher Post Game Report
On this week’s road trip post-game report I journeyed out to Peotone for their matchup with Herscher. It was great to have the players back on the field and being able to watch high school football again. As promised, here…
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Continue ReadingOn this week’s road trip post-game report I journeyed out to Peotone for their matchup with Herscher. It was great to have the players back on the field and being able to watch high school football again. As promised, here is the post-game report on the Peotone vs Herscher Friday night game. Let’s get into it.
Quick Preview
Heading into the game there were a few key items that each team needed to focus on if they wanted to win the game. For Peotone, they needed to key #24 Cody Lunsford by limiting the big plays and keeping him under 100 yards. On offense, they needed to be physical upfront in their running attack and wear Hersher down.
For Herscher, they needed to shoot the gaps to limit where Peotone’s backs can go and fly to the ball to make the tackle. On offense, they needed to use their vertical attack to stretch the field and use draws/screen plays to counteract Peotone’s aggressive defensive line.
First Half
Peotone received the kickoff and went to work in the ground game. Peotone ended up punting on their first drive giving the ball to Herscher at their own 43 which they capitalized on with a 53-yard touchdown from QB Blake Homl to RB Cody Lunsford. Peotone answered right back with a score of their own but the extra point blocked resulting in a score of 7-6 Herscher. Peotone ended up scoring another TD in the first half and went for two with Ryan Moe converting the 2 point conversion to make the score 14-7. On defense, Peotone didn’t allow another big play and both of Herschers remaining drives ended without a score.
Halftime Takeaways
A big key coming into this week one game was seeing who would be able to keep their legs and who would be able to win the turnover battle. That being said Peotone’s run game is starting to wear down the Herscher defense with the physicality up front. Coming into the game Ben Balmer and Dawson Piper was on my radar and had an impressive showing so far. What I didn’t know is that Peotone is running a four-man rotation including Ryan Moe and TJ Chenoweth. Moe having 2 car. for 30 yards and a 2 point conversion, and Chenoweth having 7 car. for 18 yards. Balmer had 5 car. for 25 yards (1 yd TD run), Piper with 4 car. for 19 yds and 11 receiving yards, and Tristain Weglarz showcasing his legs by making defenders miss on a broken play to gain 7 yards in the process. On defense for Peotone they’ve been making team tackles by swarming to the ball and the defensive line has been doing the dirty work in the trenches by keeping the LB’s free to make the tackle.
Switching gears to Hersher, they finished their first drive with a 53-yard touchdown to Lunsford. Lunsford and Berns are the main attack so far for Herscher. Lunsford with 5 car. for 26 yards and a 53 yard TD pass, and Berns with 7 car. for 29 yards. Holm finished the first half 5/7 with 93 yards and a TD. One thing to keep an eye on heading into the second half is getting Lunsford going in both the pass and run game more as well as making sure Berns doesn’t beat you deep with his speed and explosiveness. Their defense got worn down towards the end of the half which is something to keep an eye on going into the second half.
What to look for going into the second half
Peotone: Heading into the second half look for the Blue Devils to continue being aggressive in the run game & have physical play up front. On defense, they will continue to hone on Lunsford & make other players on Herscher beat them. If they do this they will have a big chance of winning the game.
Herscher: Heading into the second half look for the Tigers to find a balance between air & ground game. They’ve been getting yards in both, their last two drives ended without any points because one stalled out resulting in a punt and the other ended from time running out. I expect the Tigers to run HB Draws & screens to slow down Peotone’s pass rush. On defense, they need to continue to shoot gaps & stay disciplined. I’d look for blitzes & stunts to come into play in the second half.
Second Half
Herscher started off with the ball in the second half with their drive starting on their own 25-yard line. Both teams had a drive which resulted in a punt and then both teams scored on their next drive. When Peotone scored they went for a 2 point conversion again by handing it off once again to Ryan Moe who was able to turn the corner and get into the endzone. This brought the score to 22 – 13, Herscher was still in the game with a drive late in the fourth quarter. They ended up having to go for it on 4th and 5 where they weren’t able to capitalize. Peotone got the ball back and ran out the clock with the time remaining to win the first game of the season Peotone 22 Herscher 13.
Game Stats
Ben Balmer finished with 15 car. for 75 yards (1 yd TD), Dawson Piper had 6 car. for 22 yards with 11 receiving yards, TJ Chenoweth had 11 car. for 48 yards, and Ryan Moe had 5 car. for 48 yards and converted two 2 point conversions.
For Herscher, Blake Holm went 8/16 113 yards, 1 TD, and 2 rushing yards, Cody Lunsford had 14 car. 86 yards (1 rush TD, 53-yard passing TD), Camden Burns had 14 car. for 67 yards, Tyler Dutra had 3 rec. for 36 yards, and Clay Schultz had 3 rec. for 19 yards.
End of game
Peotone 22 Herscher 13
Quick chat with RB Ben Balmer: “I feel great about our team’s performance because we came out, they punched us in the mouth early on, we’re a young team, a lot of new starters, a lot of new guys and we responded great. I’m proud of everyone, of the guys up front, by matching their intensity because they (Herscher) played us super hard”
Quick chat with RB Dawson Piper: “I work for the team and just try to get a win because that’s all we want to do. It felt good to be out there and hit somebody again, felt good to get a win”.
Quick chat with Tyler Hendricker Tyler Hendricker 6'4" | 230 lbs | DL Peotone | 2022 State IL : “Felt great to get back out there, we had a rough start (gave up a 53 yard TD pass) but we battles through adversity and came back holding them to 6 through 3 quarters. We have to keep fighting and get 1% better every day”.
Quick chat with Peotone HC Apostolos Tsiamas: “We played this game like a first game. We played it like it was a game we haven’t played in a year and a half. I’m proud of the kids for working through it, coming out here grinding away, and we got one tonight. I’m proud of our kids, by no means was it a picture-perfect game but I like how we played the last three-quarters of the game”. When asked about the Lincoln-Way East transfer Tristain Weglarz Coach Tsiamas had this to say, “His athleticism itself is going to keep teams honest. He did a great job in his first game running this offense and he had a heck of a game on defense. He played great tonight, I was proud of him just like I am all the kids”.
Key Takeaways
- Field position (Peotone won this)
- Peotone: own 27 (punt), own 36 (TD) opp. 26 (punt), own 43 (TD), own 1 (punt), own 49 (TD), own 46 (end of game)
- Herscher: own 43 (TD), own 16 (punt), own 13 (no score, end of half), own 25 (punt), own 40 (TD), own 27 (turnover on downs)
- Peotone’s physicality upfront on offense wears you down, seen in second half
- Peotone’s defense swarms to ballcarrier, makes team tackles, and has aggressive d-line
- Herscher’s vertical attack is one to keep an eye on, Lunsford & Berns talented players
- Herscher’s defense lost their legs in the second half, physicality up front wore them down
Overall, this was a hard-fought battle between the Peotone Blue Devils and the Herscher Tigers. Herscher punched Peotone in the mouth on their opening drive but Peotone responded holding them to only 6 more points in three quarters. Peotone looks to continue rotating their four backs and has a fifth back that is ready to go if need be, they haven’t had that luxury in previous years. For their week two matchup, Peotone is headed to Streator and Herscher is hosting Wilmington, both games on 3/26.
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