Leaving no doubt: Blue Devils start WB6 title defense by overwhelming Rocks in all facets

QUINCY — Quincy High School wanted to make a statement as it opened defense of its Western Big 6 Conference football championship.

The Blue Devils delivered a powerful one.

Scoring on all six offensive possessions in the first half while limiting Rock Island to just one first down, QHS opened a 41-0 halftime lead Friday night and cruised to a 48-7 victory at Flinn Stadium in a game that featured a running clock in the second half.

For the Blue Devils, ranked ninth in the latest Class 7A poll, it was their 15th straight regular season win and their 10th in a row in WB6 play, both dating to the 2022 season. It also marked the 16th time in their last 25 games overall that they scored 40 or more points.

“We wanted to make a statement and just kind of show what we’re about this year in the conference,” quarterback Bradyn Little said after completing 21 of 24 pass attempts for 320 yards and five touchdowns.

QHS turned in its most dominating overall performance of the season in running its record to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference. And, perhaps, it quieted some critics who have pointed to a few of the team’s early-season shortcomings despite winning by wide margins.

“I have been talking to them all week about the fact that when your expectations are high, it’s fair when people are kind of making little jabs about how we start slow and this or that,” QHS coach Rick Little said.

“We kept throwing it at them. So, they got really tired of hearing those things. I thought they had a dominating performance — offense, defense, special teams — and that’s exactly what we wanted.”

The Blue Devils’ offense carved up the Rocks with precision. Braydn Little, who completed his first 10 pass attempts and 18 of 19 in the first half, continually got the ball into the hands of his playmakers with quick, short passes and let them break off chunks of yardage.

“That’s my job, to distribute the ball to all of them and let them go make plays,” he said.

QHS needed only two plays — a 23-yard pass from Braydn Little to Rico Clay Jr. and a 32-yard run by Jeraius Rice Jr. — to score on the game’s opening possession to set the tone. In fact, none of its first-half drives lasted more than seven plays, and two others resulted in points after just three plays.

Rice scored three touchdowns — two rushing and one receiving — in the first quarter and added a fourth in the second period on a 12-yard pass. He accounted for 103 yards of total offense on 13 touches.

Clay and Tykell Hammers, who combined for 13 catches and 220 receiving yards, also hauled in scoring passes in the second quarter. The Blue Devils piled up 345 yards of offense in the first half and 429 overall.

“There’s not much not to like,” Rick Little said of his playmakers. “We have so many guys who can make plays, which is a great spot to be in, but there are guys who can make plays standing on the sidelines. They’ll get their opportunities.”

The QHS defense was just as dominating, with linebackers Ben Schelp and Max Wires and lineman Kamryn Flachs-Hills continually applying pressure at the line of scrimmage and shutting off any semblance of a running game.

Rock Island managed just 24 yards of offense in the first half and crossed midfield once, and that was only because the ball bounced off a Blue Devil scrambling to get out of the way on a punt return in the final two minutes.

“You could feel it, like we are suffocating this offense … especially when you watch them read and react and fly to the football,” Rick Little said. “(The Rocks) were not comfortable and were not getting comfortable. That’s a great place to be on defense. I thought it was their best performance of the year.”

Rock Island (0-3, 0-1 WB6) rushed the ball seven times for minus-22 yards in the first half and 10 times for minus-17 overall. The Rocks got the bulk of their 106 yards of offense by going 80 yards for a score against Blue Devil reserves on their final possession in the fourth quarter.

It was the first points QHS has allowed in the second half this season.

“If you can run the ball, you can pass the ball. If you can’t do nothing, you can’t do nothing, you know what I mean?” Wires said. “We knew from the beginning of the year that we could pressure teams if we do what we’re supposed to do and execute.

“We feel that we’re one of the best defenses in the state, and we had to showcase that.”

After playing its first three games in town, QHS will get its first true road test next Friday against Moline. The Blue Devils held off the Maroons last season 34-27 at Flinn Stadium. Moline opened conference play Friday night by beating Geneseo 51-21.

“When you go 9-0 in the regular season and win the conference, you have a big bull’s-eye on your back,” Wires said. “Moline is a good football program. They want blood, so we have to come out and execute.

“The first (conference) win was an important one, but the next one is always the most important.”