Blue Devils lock down Argonauts, roll into second round of Class 7A playoffs with matchup against WB6 foe Moline looming

QUINCY — In what proved to be another record-setting day for the Quincy High School football team’s offense, it was the defense that stood tall.

Summit Argo was able to muster only one first down and was held to a minus-15 yards of total offense against the Blue Devils’ swarming and smothering defense through the first two and a half quarters Saturday afternoon at Flinn Stadium.

That, combined with a blocked punt that produced a safety and an interception that led to a touchdown, enabled Quincy to open a 35-0 halftime lead and cruise to a 49-7 victory in the opening round of the Class 7A playoffs.

“All of our guys were clicking and getting off the ball,” linebacker Ben Schelp said. “It’s win or go home, so we were just hoping to play smashmouth football. And I think we did a really good job of that.”

So good, in fact, that the Argonauts never advanced the ball beyond their own 34-yard line until after the Blue Devil starters departed midway through the third quarter. Ten of their first 27 offensive plays resulted in lost yardage, and they managed just 50 yards of offense overall, including minus-6 yards rushing on 22 attempts.

“We knew we could exploit their interior line because they’re not very fast, nor were they very strong,” defensive lineman Demarious Deverger said. “They kept trying to run it in the middle, and when they bounced it out, we had our DBs out there. We all played downhill.”

Blessed with short fields most of the day, quarterback Bradyn Little threw a Class 7A playoff record six touchdowns, became only the second player in Illinois history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards and eclipsed his own single-season school record for yards thrown.

The points matched Quincy’s highest playoff output — it also scored 49 in a shootout win against Chatham Glenwood in the first round in 2022 — and it now has 476 for the season, trailing only last year’s squad (506) for most in a season.

However, it was the play of the defense that impressed Quincy coach Rick Little the most, especially since it came on the heels of yielding more than 400 yards and 31 points in the regular-season finale against Capital City, Mo.

What linemen Deverger, Kamryn Flachs-Hill and Kolton Smith didn’t snuff out, the linebacking corps of Schelp, Ryan Cashman and Max Wires did. And the secondary allowed just nine completions.

“That’s a thing that makes me sleep really good at night,” Rick Little said after his team improved to 10-0. “We’re extremely blessed with the depth we have on our defensive line, and you can see it’s going to be a long day when you can’t win the line of scrimmage.

“That’s something we’ve done to a lot of teams and hope to continue to do.”

One thing the Blue Devils also have done in every game this season is score on their opening possession, and they did so again Saturday. In a precursor of what was to come, a 48-yard return of the opening kickoff by Jeraius Rice Jr. set them up at the Argo 47.

Five plays later, Bradyn Little hit Rico Clay Jr. on a crossing pattern for a 34-yard catch-and-run touchdown with just 2 minutes, 7 seconds elapsed. He then found Tykell Hammers on another crossing route from 15 yards out to cap Quincy’s longest drive of the day at 63 yards.

Mason Dent blocked a punt with 36.9 seconds remaining in the first period that resulted in a safety to make it 16-0. Little then threw scoring passes to Caeden Johannessen, Rice and Clay again in the second quarter on drives of 51 yards or less — the last set up by a Jack Hammock interception deep in Argo territory.

“It seemed like we started out almost every drive past the 50-yard-line,” said Bradyn Little, who completed 19 of 29 passes for 258 yards, giving him 3,506 for the season and 10,050 for his career. “We only had to get a couple of first downs to be in the red zone.

“It was an awesome performance by our defense and special teams.”

Little teamed up with Johannessen for another touchdown midway through the third quarter to start a running clock before exiting. Harold Williams tacked on a 5-yard scoring run with 1:58 remaining in the third to make it 49-0.

Hammers finished with 97 yards on eight catches and Clay 96 yards on five receptions.

Rice, who didn’t practice during the week and played sparingly Saturday while nursing an injury, had his string of five straight games with at least three touchdowns and three consecutive games with more than 200 yards rushing and receiving combined snapped.

Quincy, seeded second in 7A, will host a rematch with Western Big 6 Conference foe Moline in the second round at 7 p.m. Friday. The 15th-seeded Maroons beat Addison Trail 38-13 Friday night. The Blue Devils jumped to a 29-7 halftime lead en route to a 43-21 victory in the first encounter on the road in Week 4.

“Sometimes people think because we beat them it’s going to be an easy win, and that’s not our mindset at all,” Rick Little said. “I’m excited about it but I’m also nervous. They know what we do, how we do things.

“We talk about it all the time. Pressure is a privilege. People want more, they expect more, so we have to take it to the next level. I’m excited for the opportunity and know that we have a good group that’s looking forward to the challenge.”