Schuckman: Undefeated start generating enthusiasm for Macomb football program

MACOMB, Ill. — If rainfall and lightning strikes can’t put a damper on the enthusiasm surrounding the Macomb football program, what can?

Right now, nothing.

Friday night’s crowd was asked to leave the stadium complex to wait out a thunderstorm cell that passed over the area just before Friday night’s kickoff against Farmington. It delayed the start of the game for nearly 45 minutes. Yet, when the gates were reopened, the crowd came back in full force.

The Bombers’ offense did, too. Macomb scored a touchdown on nearly every possession of the first half, building a 52-0 lead that ended in a 58-7 Prairieland Conference victory and pushed the No. 10 team in the Class 4A state poll to the magical, playoff-qualifying five-victory plateau.

Moreso, it kept the good vibes and the momentum rolling.

For the first time in a decade, the Bombers are off to a 5-0 start. It is only the second time in the last quarter century, Macomb has opened a season with at least five consecutive victories. The 2012 team won its first seven games, defeated Quincy Notre Dame back-to-back weeks to close the regular season and open the playoffs and finished 9-2.

No Macomb team has ever won more than nine games.

Could this be the first?

The Bombers are already in pretty exclusive company. With victories Friday night, 45 teams throughout Illinois improved to 5-0. Saturday, 12 more teams will try to remain undefeated. IHSA football guru Steve Soucie, the sports editor at the Joliet Herald-News, tweeted late Friday night that fewer than 60 teams being undefeated and playoff eligible through Week 5 might be an all-time low.

It shines a brighter spotlight on what Macomb is doing.

A lot has to transpire between now and the end of the regular season to make a significant playoff run possible and the opportunity to reach double-digit victories. Still, what Farmington learned is what could be the key to making history happen.

The Bombers are a matchup nightmare.

Stack the box to take away Max Ryner and the run game — like the Farmers tried — and your defense becomes vulnerable on the outside. Unless you possess lockdown cornerbacks in the mirror image of Macomb defensive stalwart Jayden Jones, there is going to be a mismatch.

Few, if any, have shown the ability to defend either JT Jeter or Langdon Allen one-on-one.

Farmington couldn’t. 

Senior quarterback Jack Duncan threw completed 16 of 20 passes for 307 yards and five touchdowns. Junior wide receiver JT Jeter caught three of those scoring passes, including a 77-yarder on the first play of the second quarter, and had 10 catches and 186 yards receiving. 

Allen caught five passes for 78 yards, while Ian Case’s 10-yard touchdown reception was his first catch of the season.

Senior running back Max Ryner had 113 yards rushing and two touchdowns as well.

The defense was equally dominant. The Farmers were limited to 35 yards of total offense in the first half and turned the ball over three times.

It’s further proof the pieces are coming together to make this a memorable season. In many ways, it already has been, but so many more opportunities lie ahead.

Nothing can douse the excitement that creates.