Crim: Big plays from explosive offense giving QHS football team leg up in undefeated start

QUINCY — The formula for the Quincy High School football team is simple.

Catch us if you can.

Quincy’s explosive offense has picked up where it left off last season by scoring 40 or more points in each of its first three games. The undefeated and state-ranked Blue Devils are churning out nearly 470 yards of total offense every time they step on the field.

Importantly, Quincy has showcased its big-play capabilities by scoring on its opening possession in every game — twice within the first minute.

“That’s what our offense is able to do,” quarterback Bradyn Little said. “It’s an advantage anytime you can get ahead on the scoreboard on the first drive. You feel like the other team’s chasing you.”

And although Quincy Notre Dame hung around for a half in the opener and Alton made a game of it for a quarter in Week 2, no team has been able to catch the Blue Devils, with their embarrassment of riches on the offensive side of the ball.

Little, who likens himself to a point guard in basketball by “just getting the ball to our guys,” has completed 74 percent of his pass attempts for 1,017 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has thrown for more than 7,200 yards and 83 TDs in his career.

Wideouts Rico Clay Jr. and Tykell Hammers, with their size and speed, have proven to be difficult to defend and are threats to go the distance anytime they touch the ball. The duo already has four touchdown catches apiece. Caeden Johannessen is a valuable possession receiver who is averaging nearly 15 yards per catch.

And speedy dual-threat tailback Jeraius Rice Jr. is averaging 9.3 yards per rushing attempt and is third on the team in receptions. His eight total touchdowns — five receiving and three rushing — lead the team.

“We have good players and they’ve been at this for a long time, and they put the work in,” Quincy coach Rick Little said after watching his team blitz Rock Island for 41 first-half points Friday night en route to a 48-7 victory at Flinn Stadium.

“Like I told them at the end, we never apologize for working really hard because this is the reward.”

Like the offense, the Quincy defense put the pedal to the metal and never let up against Rock Island.

The Rocks were held to one first down and 22 yards of offense through three quarters Friday night, although the third period was played with a running clock. They had minus-17 yards rushing overall after the Blue Devils limited Alton to just 6 ground yards on 33 attempts.

Quincy’s first-team defense has yielded just 25 points and none in the second half so far. Rock Island’s touchdown in the fourth quarter came against reserves.

So, playing from behind has not proven to be a winning strategy.

“Just being confident in our stunts and our plays … just being a family,” linebacker Max Wires said of the defensive success. “We want to eliminate what other teams want to do quick so we can get them out of the game.”

The Blue Devils, ranked ninth in the latest Class 7A poll, will face their toughest test to date this Friday when they travel to Moline, which is tied with Quincy and Sterling atop the early Western Big 6 Conference standings.

Quincy needed three touchdowns by Rice — two in the second half — and a final-minute interception by Clay at the front corner of the end zone to hold off Moline a year ago in a 34-27 victory. It was the Blue Devils’ first victory over the Maroons since 2016 and only the eighth in 36 meetings.

Quincy is 22-4 since the start of the 2022 season and has not lost a regular-season or WB6 game since falling to Sterling 34-28 in overtime on Sept. 30, 2022. The Blue Devils, seeking to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since 1973-74, have won 15 straight regular-season games and 10 conference games in a row.

Meanwhile, Moline is coming off a 51-21 thrashing of previously undefeated Geneseo in its conference opener.

While the stakes will be high, Quincy’s mindset remains the same.

“We’re going on the road, really for the first time, to play on a grass surface against a team in Moline that’s been a perennial Western Big 6 power,” Rick Litle said. “So, there’s a lot of reasons to have our attention and for us to be ready to go.

“We want to play our best football. It’s more about us than the opposition.”