‘Every drive is a touchdown’: Blue Devils bury Maroons with offensive onslaught late in first half

QUINCY — All Bradyn Little and the Quincy High School football team’s offense could do was wait.

Five minutes into the second quarter of Friday night’s Class 7A second-round playoff game, 15th-seeded Moline had chewed up more than 13 minutes of possession and limited second-seeded Quincy to one possession in a game tied at 7 at that point.

To say the Blue Devils were getting antsy on the sidelines is an understatement.

“I was just trying to stay loose,” said Little, the senior quarterback and MVP of the Western Big 6 Conference. “They were taking 3 yards and a cloud of dust every play. We knew that was their game plan to hold onto the ball and keep it away from us as much as possible.

“It wasn’t surprising, but it was kind of frustrating. We wanted to get out there.”

And the Blue Devils knew what getting back on the field meant.

“A touchdown,” left guard Keegan Wheeler said. “Every drive is a touchdown. That’s all we hope for. We execute to make that happen.”

Spotless execution and a tide-turning defensive play made the wait worthwhile.

The Blue Devils scored three touchdowns in the final 4:37 of the first half — the last coming on Little’s 1-yard plunge as time expired after Kolton Smith recovered a Moline fumble 37.7 seconds to play — and rode the momentum to a 44-14 victory at Flinn Stadium and their second consecutive state quarterfinal berth.

“That was the game right there,” Smith said. “They knew it was over and we knew it was over.”

It gives the Blue Devils (11-0) the opportunity to make history once again.

Quincy will travel to Chicago St. Rita for next weekend’s state quarterfinals. The Mustangs (9-2) beat Willowbrook 21-9 Friday night to advance.

“It starts with practice,” Smith said. “Dialing in at practice. Only football, no other distractions.”

The QHS defense needed a little bit of time to dial it in Friday night.

Moline drove 58 yards on the game’s opening possession to take a 7-0 lead on Adrian Cooper’s 2-yard touchdown run. The Maroons followed it up with a xx-yard drive on their second possession that reached the red zone.

“Moline came to play,” QHS defensive lineman Kamryn Flachs-Hill said. “We needed that first drive. They punched us in the mouth. Our defense does well once we come together, communicate and fix our mistakes. Once we did that, we just locked them down.”

It started by keeping Moline out of the end zone on that second drive. The Maroons drove to the Blue Devils’ 6-yard line, but a holding penalty moved them back and forced them to attempt a 33-yard field goal on fourth and goal. The kick was wide left, giving the Blue Devils possession with 7:15 remaining in the first half.

“We needed that stop really bad,” QHS linebacker Ben Schelp said. “We came in a little lollygagging I would say. We didn’t come out our best. We adjusted and ended pretty well.”

Jeraius Rice Jr.’s 47-yard touchdown catch-and-run gave the Blue Devils a 14-7 lead with 4:37 remaining in the first half, and the fireworks were just beginning.

Quincy’s defense forced a punt, setting up a six-play, 54-yard drive that ended with Rice scoring on a 29-yard pass from Little with 53.9 seconds remaining. Two plays later, Schlep sacked Moline quarterback Elijah Taylor, punching the ball loose and watching Smith fall on it at the Maroons’ 29-yard line with 37.7 seconds left in the half.

The Blue Devils capitalized. Little scored on fourth and goal from the 1-yard line as time expired in the half for a 28-7 lead.

“Big, big confidence booster,” Rice said. “I thought we came out slow, but we picked it up.”

Knowing they were to receive the kickoff to start the second half gave the Blue Devils a huge edge as they went to the locker room.

“It was a little bit of a relief, honestly,” Flachs-Hill said. “We came in and said, ‘This is what we’re used to.’ We still had to come out and play Blue Devil football, and I thought we did that pretty well.”

Quincy drove 83 yards on 12 plays on the opening drive of the scond half, finishing it with Rice’s 1-yard touchdown run to essentially put the game away.

“We like to get in there and make plays,” said Rice, who rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns and caught six passes for 118 yards and two scores. “Just get the ball to our playmakers.”

Little completed 23 of 29 passes for 335 yards and three scores, while Tykell Hammers caught seven passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Moline rolled up 271 yards rushing with Elijah Warren rumbling for 116 yards.

The Maroons just couldn’t keep the Blue Devils off the field long enough for the ground-and-pound to matter.