Air attack helps Panthers soar to first-round victory, get rematch with Raiders

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Nick Moore and Garret Williams both carried the same why-fix-it-if-it-ain’t-broken look on their faces.

Moore, the talented sophomore quarterback for the Central Panthers, had teamed up with Williams, a senior wingback, for three first-half touchdown passes during Saturday’s 48-14 dismantling of Villa Grove in a Class 1A first-round playoff game.

“(Williams) was wide open — three times — for easy TDs,” Moore said.

Villa Grove’s defense made it obvious early it was centering its effort around trying to smother Central’s vaunted ground attack, which entered the postseason averaging 357 yards per game.

“(Villa Grove’s) defense was playing two deep on the corners, and our coaches called the perfect plays,” Williams said.

No argument there.

Moore and Williams scorched the Villa Grove secondary on touchdown throws of 73, 40 and 33 yards to propel Central to a 48-8 halftime advantage. The second half was played with a running clock.

Central’s victory was its sixth straight and represented the seventh time it had scored 40-plus points. The top-seeded Panthers (9-1) advance to the second round and will travel to ninth-seeded Moweaqua Central A&M next weekend.

The Panthers beat the Raiders 44-14 on Oct. 16.

Williams entered the playoffs with four catches for 79 yards over the first nine games. Against Villa Grove, his three TD receptions covered a combined 146 yards.

“It was a heckuva day to play some football,” Williams said.

Moore actually threw four first-half scoring passes, the other was a 35-yarder to junior Isaac Genenbacher. For the season, he has completed just 26 passes, but eight have been for touchdowns.

Central coach Brad Dixon said the game boiled down to Villa Grove “picking its poison.”

“They were selling out to stop the run,” Dixon said.

Actually, that didn’t work that well either.

Central used 10 ball carriers en route to rushing for 264 of its 435 total yards.

“We stressed to the kids before the game to live in the moment, to cherish the opportunity of being in the playoffs,” Dixon said. “As crazy as the last year and a half has been, it’s great to be back to some sense of normalcy and (this kind of) excitement.”

Saturday’s game marked the 13th consecutive season Central has participated in the postseason (discounting the pandemic-shortened spring schedule earlier this year), including the last 10 with Dixon at control of the program.

Central, ranked No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll, has a 16-9 postseason record under Dixon and a 98-23 overall mark. 

Dixon said the consistency that is now an earmark of the program is no accident. The Panthers purposely rotate underclassmen on both sides of the ball, which makes the season-to-season development/advancement of the program that much easier. There’s a rarely a sense of rebuilding in Camp Point. In eight of Dixon’s seasons at the school, the Panthers have lost two or fewer games.

“We just hope to reload,” Dixon said.

While the passing game commanded most of Saturday’s headlines, the ground game left its mark, too. Williams gained 92 yards in the first half (he did not carry the ball in the second half), pushing his season rushing total to 1,045 yards, one of two 1,000-yard backs in the Panthers’ lineup. Genenbacher has 1,020. 

Williams (14) and Genenbacher (12) have also combined for 26 rushing touchdowns and 31 overall.

“Our offensive line makes it easy for us,” Williams said.

Making up that offensive line are tackles Kaleb Post and Keaton Dickhut, guards Trenton Orr and Warren Myers, center Dylan Dickhut and tight ends Josh Alford and Carter Eyler.

“Our line is just amazing,” Genenbacher said.