Zeroed in on history: Blue Devils cap first perfect regular season in 88 years with dominant fourth-quarter finish

QUINCY — A season’s worth of build-up and an unblemished record carried the Quincy High School football team to the doorstep of history Friday night.

All that remained was one final step.

It may have been the most arduous and gratifying step these Blue Devils have taken.

Leading state-ranked Mahomet-Seymour by just two points at the start of the fourth quarter Friday night at Flinn Stadium, Quincy cemented the program’s first undefeated regular season in nearly nine decades by scoring the final 21 points of a 56-33 victory.

“It feels 10 times better than what I thought it might be like,” senior right guard Cole Wagy said. “I knew I’d be excited, but you can’t even imagine that feeling until it happens.”

It happened in front of a crowd of nearly 2,500 that lasted long into the night to bear witness to history.

By finishing 9-0, the Blue Devils matched the 1935 team for the best regular-season record in program history. According to the QHS Sports Hall of Fame and other historical records, no other QHS football team has gone undefeated in the regular season.

“We worked our butts off for this and it means everything to us,” junior defensive lineman Kamryn Flachs-Hill said. “But we have more to work for. More laps to go, just like Coach (Rick Little) said in the huddle. Five more laps to go. We have a lot more to go, a lot more to accomplish.”

When, where and how that happens will start to unfold at 8 p.m. Saturday when the Illinois High School Association reveals the playoff pairings during a live broadcast. The Blue Devils, ranked fifth in Class 7A in the latest Associated Press state poll, are expected to remain in Class 7A despite being one of the smaller schools in the classification.

The Blue Devils will play a first-round home game, but all other aspects of the matchup are to be determined.

“We have a bigger stage to prove ourselves on now,” Flachs-Hill said. “We’ve got the playoffs. We’ve got round one, round two, round three. Let’s make more history. More history to come.”

History has been on the Blue Devils’ minds since preseason practice began.

They never lost sight of that or the work it takes to make it possible, which included buckling down defensively in the second half.

Quincy bolted to a 21-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, scoring on junior running back Jeraius Rice’s 2-yard run, his 24-yard reception and a 43-yard catch-and-run by junior wide receiver Caeden Johannessen.

A rushing touchdown by Mahomet-Seymour’s Luke Johnson, a recovery of the ensuing onside kick and a 12-touchdown pass to Ray Long — all within an 80-second window — brought the Bulldogs within 21-19 midway through the second quarter.

Adon Byquist’s 32-yard touchdown reception gave the Blue Devils a 28-19 lead at halftime, but an interception on the opening drive of the second negated Quincy’s momentum as Mahomet-Seymour (7-2) turned it into a 35-yard touchdown pass to get back to within two points just 58 seconds into the third quarter.

The teams traded touchdowns in the final five minutes of the third quarter, leaving the Blue Devils ahead 35-33 with 12 minutes to go.

“We had to collect ourselves,” Flachs-Hill said. “We had to let each other know we had each other’s back. That’s what we did. We got in each other’s face and said, ‘Let’s go. It’s our time to lock down and win this game.’ That’s exactly what we did.”

Johannessen caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Bradyn Little 39 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Blue Devils never took the foot off the pedal. Jake Mettemeyer caught an 8-yard touchdown pass, and Johannessen hauled in his third TD pass on a 45-yard play with 2:19 remaining.

History was theirs at that point.

“It feels like I imagined,” Johannessen said. “I’m just glad we got to this point.”

No matter how close Mahomet-Seymour crept, the Blue Devils had faith they’d get the job done.

“We just knew people would make plays whenever they got their opportunity,” Johannessen said.

Against a defense that had allowed just 68 points all season, the Blue Devils finished with a flourish.

“Being able to execute and finish it and reach that big goal — we have goals way bigger than this — but to see this one through showed us we could make the first step to those bigger things,” Wagy said. “I’m super proud of everyone on the team.”

It elicited a sense of relief, too, knowing this job was finished.

“I’ll be honest (Thursday) night was a little sleepless,” Little said. “You’re not thinking we’re not good enough, but you’re constantly thinking about what could go right, what could go wrong and all of the build-up. You don’t want to have a misstep when you’re close to finishing it.

“I like that pressure and I want our team to thrive under pressure, and the guys fought for what they wanted. They finished it. That makes our entire coaching staff proud.”