Bombers outlast Raiders in Class 4A opening-round playoff game, earn another shot at redemption

October 29, 2022 | By Don O'Brien

Macomb’s Jayden Jones (3) runs the ball during IHSA first round playoff game between the QND Raiders and Macomb Bombers, Saturday in Macomb. Mathew Kirby/Courier Post-Herald Whig

Macomb's Jayden Jones attempts to elude a Quincy Notre Dame tackler during the first half of Saturday night's Class 4A playoff game in Macomb, Ill. | Photo courtesy Mathew Kirby

MACOMB, Ill. — Macomb football coach Tanner Horrell could only shake his head Saturday night.

“That’s a pretty good 5-4 team, huh?” Horrell asked, referring to a Quincy Notre Dame team that gave his undefeated Bombers all could they handle before coming away with a 28-14 victory over the Raiders in an opening-round Class 4A playoff game.

For its efforts, Macomb (10-0) will host a second-round matchup at 3 p.m. next Saturday against Murphysboro, which improved to 8-2 with a 41-28 victory Friday over Columbia.

The Bombers trailed 14-12 going into the fourth quarter before a turn of events early in the period swung things in their direction. On the second play of the quarter, QND faced third and 7 at the Macomb 42-yard line. The Raiders pulled off a trick play as wide receiver Charlie Lavery got the ball behind the line of scrimmage and threw a bomb downfield to junior Aiden Klauser, who pulled down the ball in the end zone for an apparent touchdown.

However, the Raiders were whistled for an illegal motion penalty.

“We practiced all week and have that in (the game plan) since Normal West,” Lavery said. “It was a good throw, and I had it on target. We were just unlucky with the penalty. Props to Klauser for going up and getting that. It would have been a big momentum play for us, but that happens in games.”

On the next play, Macomb sophomore Braden Holthaus picked off a pass by QND quarterback Noah Lunt.

QND coach Jack Cornell called the sequence “backbreaking.”

“I thought we had our guys in a good spot to make a play,” Cornell said. “Unfortunately mistakes like that will kill you.”

Quincy Notre Dame’s Brock Wiley leaps over a Macomb defender during the first half of Saturday night’s Class 4A first-round playoff game in Macomb, Ill. | Photo courtesy Mathew Kirby

Five plays later, Macomb junior Jayden Jones caught a pass from Jack Duncan over the middle, broke free from one tackle and scampered 56 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion pass by Duncan was good to give the Bombers a 20-14 lead.

The Bombers turned over the Raiders on downs on their next drive and regained possession with 7 minutes, 38 seconds left to play. They didn’t give the ball back until running the clock down to 1:08 left, going 60 yards on a 14-play drive that Duncan capped with a 1-yard scoring run. When the Bombers’ bruising senior running back Max Ryner dove into the end zone for the two-point conversion, Macomb led 28-14.

“We knew we could get 3 or fo4ur yards a play if we did the right things,” Duncan said. “Max ran hard there and the line did some really nice things on that last drive there.”

Early on, it looked as if Macomb was going to run away and hide from QND. The Bombers scored on their first two drives. Junior wide receiver J.T. Jeter caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Duncan to cap the Bombers’ opening drive. Jeter caught a 10-yard scoring pass to cap the second drive for a 12-0 lead one play into the second quarter.

Up to that point, the Raiders had all of 3 yards of total offense. Macomb’s first touchdown was set up after a bad snap forced Lunt, punting in place of injured senior Dalton Miller, to fall on the ball at the Raiders’ 20.

QND senior Jackson Stratton, working as the quarterback in a wildcat formation, took the first snap of the Raiders’ third drive 64 yards for a touchdown. He added the point-after touchdown kick to make it 12-7. That score held up through halftime.

Macomb’s J.T. Jeter dives to catch h the ball for a touchdown during the first half of Saturday night’s Class 4A first-round playoff game in Macomb, Ill. | Photo courtesy Mathew Kirby

QND was able to take its only lead of the game in the third quarter. Senior Connor McDowell sacked Duncan and forced a fumble that teammate Gabe Terstriep recovered near midfield. The Raiders capitalized on the fumble as Stratton capped an 11-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Stratton’s second PAT of the night gave QND a 14-12 lead late in the third quarter.

“We had them against the ropes, but couldn’t put the right things together,” Stratton said. “We had so many opportunities. I felt like there were flags everywhere, guys going down everywhere. But we kept battling. I wouldn’t do it another way. We worked so hard and left it all out there.”

Stratton led the QND offense with 152 total yards. He had 125 yards rushing on 18 carries and added a team-high five receptions for 27 yards. Lunt finished with 140 yards passing, going 10 for 24 with three interceptions. Klauser finished with 93 yards on four receptions.

After hurting QND through the air in the first half, Macomb primarily relied on its run game after halftime. Ryner finished with 147 yards on 33 carries. Duncan added 236 yards through the air, completing 21 of 33 passes.

“We didn’t finish some drives that I felt like we should have, but that was a great effort by our defense tonight,” Duncan said. “They battled all night long.”

Horrell was impressed with how his team, which had not been challenged much through the regular season, fought through adversity.

“It was a gutsy performance,” he said. “They came back and took the lead and we lost J.T. for a while. Things didn’t seem to be going our way and then we got that pick. Then Jayden breaks one. It was just a great effort.”

And the Bombers get another chance at redemption. Last year, Macomb lost four games. The Bombers have avenged regular-season losses to Rushville-Industry, Farmington and Elmwood-Brimfield from their 2021 campaign. Now they’ll face a Murphysboro team that ended their season last year with a 43-22 victory in an opening-round playoff game.

“We didn’t think we’d get a shot at Murphysboro,” Horrell said. “It worked out that way and we’ll see how it works out next Saturday.”

The loss sends out a group of QND seniors that helped the program make playoff appearances their freshman, junior and senior seasons. The Raiders were forced to play a shortened spring season their sophomore year and the Raiders finished ranked No. 1 in Class 2A after going 4-2 against much larger schools from the Big 12 Conference.

“Our upperclassmen have given our underclassmen ideal role models of how to lead other men and how to lead on a football and how to be the leaders when the team needed it the most,” Cornsell said. “That will be the legacy that carries on long after they graduated and walked across the stage. For that, I’m eternally grateful.”