Quick Kick: Triplett’s return propels QND to easy first-round victory and another home playoff game

QUINCY — It didn’t take long for Quincy Notre Dame to make a statement in its first-round Class 2A playoff football game.

Only 12 seconds, in fact.

Oliver Triplett returned the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead.

“The whole plan was to jump on them early,” Triplett said.

QND coasted past Flora 49-6 on Saturday afternoon at Advance Physical Therapy Field to secure its first home playoff victory since 2019. The visiting Wolves remained winless in the postseason, falling to 0-14 all-time in the playoffs. 

“Oliver is a special athlete,” QND head coach Jack Cornell said. “He’s patient when he gets the ball and when he sees a gap, he’s going to hit it at 100 miles an hour.”

The victory earned the Raiders another chance to play at 10^th and Jackson. QND (9-1) will host Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (9-1) next Saturday at 2 p.m. The Knights defeated North Mac 54-32 at home on Saturday.

The second-round matchup will be a rematch of last season’s playoff opener. The Raiders qualified for the playoffs with a 5-4 record but upset the top-seeded Knights 21-14 on the road. 

“I didn’t know if this was going to be the last (home) game or not,” QND’s Wyatt Mueller said. “I was really trying to take it in, but it feels good to know that we have another (home game).”

QND’s offense came alive in its third series. 

Mueller, who typically plays defense and only a handful of plays as quarterback, entered the contest under center and immediately drove the Raiders down the field. He capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to increase the advantage to 14-0 with 90 seconds left in the first quarter.

Mueller used his legs to make it a three-score game in the early stages of the second quarter, eluding several would-be Flora tacklers to race into the end zone from 30 yards out and give QND a 21-0 lead with 10:28 remaining before halftime. 

Three minutes later, Triplett scored his second touchdown, a 2-yard run, to increase the advantage to 28-0. Flora (6-4) attempted a Hail Mary at the first-half buzzer, but Mueller intercepted the pass.

QND’s defense, which surrendered 78 points in its last nine games, attacked at every opportunity. Taylin Scott spearheaded the effort with 19 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and added a sack and forced fumble.

“It’s just my will, my drive, and my determination to get to the ball,” Scott said. “I don’t have much time left as a senior. I got to take advantage of every moment.”

Cornell says few, if any, have been better than Scott at the linebacker position in QND program history.

“(Taylin) understands exactly what the other team’s offense is going to do before they do it,” Cornell said. “He knows how to put himself in those positions and make big plays and come out on the winning side.”

Scott wasn’t the only Raider who made his presence felt defensively.

Defensive back Jace Allensworth had a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second half, defensive end Charsten Williams had a key sack for a turnover on downs in the first quarter, and defensive back Ty Meyer swatted away a pair of passes that would have resulted in big gains.

The Raiders held the Wolves to 121 yards of total offense on 53 plays from scrimmage.

“(The defense) plays with a swagger, and they play with an edge, and I think that they just attack everything they do with a championship mentality,” Cornell said. “When you got that kind of mindset going into any game, you feel really confident in what you’re doing because of the work you did on the front end.”

The Raiders invoked a running clock in the third quarter thanks in part to a 2-yard touchdown run by Ivan Hun. Triplett’s third touchdown of the game, a 27-yard scamper, pushed the lead to 49-0 at the end of the third quarter. Flora’s only points of the contest came on a 67-yard touchdown run by Kormik Massie with 11:47 left in the game against QND’s second-string defensive unit.

“Our (offensive) line did a fantastic job today,” Triplett said. “When we can stay behind our blockers, we are a really special offense.”

QND finished with 300 yards of offense — 185 yards on the ground and 115 yards through the air.

The Raiders scored on offense, defense and special teams, but there’s still work to be done, according to Cornell.

“We need to attack each and every single day and try to be at our best, and ultimately, try to find ways to peak at the right time,” he said. “I think that our guys understand that challenge, and they seem to be doing that day in and day out.”