‘What if magic happens?’: Senior linebacker’s INT critical to helping QHS football team navigate epic comeback

QUINCY — Down 28-0 to Rock Island on Senior Night at Flinn Stadium, Quincy High School senior linebacker Kory Fletcher tried to keep a good attitude.

“I kept thinking, ‘What if magic happens?’ ” Fletcher said. “And magic happened.”

The Blue Devils rallied from that first-half deficit to pull out a thrilling 47-42 Western Big 6 Conference victory over the Rocks. Fletcher made one magical play and another practical play in the second half to help QHS pull off one of the biggest come-from-behind victories in program history.

First, Fletcher made an amazing, one-handed interception of a Conner Dilulio pass early in the fourth quarter. He returned the ball 18 yards to the Rocky 8-yard line. QHS sophomore Tykell Hammers scored on an 8-yard TD run on the next play to cut Rocky’s lead to 35-33. 

A pair of long Jeraius Rice touchdown runs — one a 55-yarder and another from 63 yards out — gave Quincy the lead. The second one, which came after the QHS offensive line gave Rice a hole big enough to run a semi through, looked to quell any hopes of a Rocky comeback with 1 minute, 52 seconds left to play. However, Rocky’s Desmond Woodson returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a score to cut Quincy’s lead to 47-42.

That meant an onsides kick attempt by the Rocks. Their target wound up being Fletcher, who doesn’t normally play on the hands team but had to fill in. The kick bounced off him, but he jumped on top of it as Quincy was able to run out all but the final 21 seconds of the game. Rocky did nothing in its final possession.

“I had to fill in and I knew they were going to attack me,” Fletcher said. “The ball bounced off my leg. I got nervous, but I was able to jump on it.”

After being stuck in neutral in the first quarter — QHS managed just one first down and 29 yards of offense — the Blue Devils finally got some momentum going in the second quarter. But it wasn’t until after Rocky had scored on its first four possessions. 

Rice scored on a 12-yard run midway through the quarter. Quincy cut the lead to 28-14 by halftime as Jack Mettemeyer took a Bradyn Little pass 76 yards for a touchdown with just under three minutes left in the half.

“I believed we were going to win that game,” Quincy coach Rick Little said. “Even down 28 points, I promise you that I believed we were going to win that game. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I knew we had that ability. 

“I believed in my bones that we were going to win this game. At halftime, I told them we were going to score right away, and we did.”

Quincy needed just four plays to score in the third quarter as Rice rumbled home from 16 yards out. However, Rocky responded as junior wide receiver Joe Allen made a beautiful catch over the top of a Quincy defender, kept his balance and ran the rest of the way for a 65-yard touchdown reception.

Rocky was able to bleed more than 7:30 off the clock to close the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rocky’s Law Dee misfired on a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Blue Devils needed just 71 seconds to go 80 yards as Rice capped that drive by being pushed into the end zone by the Blue Devils’ line from a yard out. 

Fletcher made his star turn on Rocky’s next possession, catching the ball in the left flat and touching off a wild celebration on the Quincy sideline.

“Senior Night, my whole family is here. I’ll never forget that play for the rest of my life,” said Fletcher, who also recovered a fumble late in the first half..

From there, the Blue Devils offensive line and Rice took over. He scored from 55 yards out with a little more than six minutes to play to give the Blue Devils their first lead at 41-35. The Blue Devils’ defense forced Rocky to turn the ball over on downs on their next possession. When Quincy took over at its own 37 with just over two minutes to play, it looked like all it had to do was try to milk the clock.

Instead, Rice found a wide-open lane on the first play and zipped up the middle of the field 63 yards for a score.

“That was a trap play and we executed down blocks perfectly,” junior left guard Chris Flachs said. “Jeraius did what he does best and that’s score touchdowns.”

Rice finished with five scores and 206 yards on just 16 carries.

What was the key?

“Offensive line, 100 percent,” Rice said, without missing a beat. “I’ll take partial credit for it, but most of it goes to the line. All of those guys did the job.”

Bradyn Little completed 15 of 27 passes for 304 yards, giving the Blue Devils a 300-yard passer and a 200-yard rusher in the same game, something that rarely happens at any level of football.

Like his father, the sophomore quarterback wasn’t too worried early. 

“I don’t know if we weren’t ready or they were just on their game,” Bradyn Little said. “A couple things didn’t go our way and we were in a hole. But we knew it was a long game and that you had to play all four quarters.”

Rock Island (4-5) looked well on its way to securing a fifth win necessary to be considered for the IHSA playoffs. Their running back tandem of seniors Quonterrion Brooks and Cameron Figgs gave the Blue Devils fits. Figgs scored on a 22-yard run to start the scoring on Rocky’s opening drive. Brooks scored from a yard on to make it 14-0 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. 

On the final play of the first quarter, Figgs caught a short pass from Dilulio and took it 61 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 cushion. Brooks took his turn again on Rocky’s fourth possession, scoring from 7 yards out, for a 28-0 lead.

However, the game turned during Quincy’s next drive. Figgs, who had just returned from injury, got banged up while playing defense. Two plays after he left, Quincy scored its first touchdown. Figgs did not return. Brooks also left the game briefly in the first half and then was knocked out for good on Rocky’s next-to-last drive in the fourth quarter.

Brooks finished with 144 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, while Figgs had 114 yards of total offense in limited time, including 53 yards rushing on four attempts. Dilulio had 214 yards passing, going 11 for 23 with an interception.

Quincy will make its ninth playoff appearance in Rick Little’s tenure next week. This is their first playoff bid since 2018. 

“It’s going to be a challenge in the playoffs,” Rice said. “We can’t start off slow like we did today.”

Rick Little said his team has some momentum going into the postseason.

“It’s a great game to go into the postseason,” he said. “With this team, we are never out of it.”