Collinsville takes down Triad football
By Anthony Jones
TROY — The regular season came to a close for Triad and Collinsville football last week when they clashed on Oct. 25. Triad, who entered with a 7-1 record, hosted the bout with the 4-4 Kahoks.
Their week nine matchup was especially critical for Collinsville, who needed a fifth victory to become playoff eligible.
On the game’s opening kickoff, the Knights seized momentum as Brock Lynch forced a Kahok fumble. Braxton Yates fielded the loose ball for Triad at Collinsville’s nine yard line.
Just four plays later, the Knights went ahead on a three yard rush by Jack Phelps. Lance Stauffer supplied an extra point to take a 7-0 edge.
The Kahoks responded with a much lengthy drive, holding possession for over five minutes before Chase Reynolds scored on an eight yard quarterback keeper. A high snap on the extra point kept the hosting Knights ahead 7-6.
Later in the first quarter, the Knights were again given favorable field position after Ian Dempsey returned a punt to Collinsville’s 19 yard line. The subsequent drive went into the second quarter before Stauffer nailed a 35 yard field goal to take a 10-6 edge.
A subsequent 75 yard drive, capped off by a 32 yard keeper by Reynolds, gave Collinsville their first lead of the night at 13-10.
A lengthy kick return by Dempsey set Triad’s ensuing drive up at the 50 yard line as they looked to regain the lead.
After facing a third and long near midfield, quarterback Isaac Ackerman scrambled for 35 yards down to the Kahok 15 yard line to kickstart the drive. The Knights scored three plays later as Ackerman connected with Louis Yohannes for a 15 yard touchdown pass.
Stauffer’s successful extra point pushed the hosts ahead 17-13. Unfortunately for them, that proved to be their final score of the night.
“Seventeen points this time of year isn’t going to win football games and we have to be better offensively. We didn’t execute tonight and that’s why we lost. Hats off to their defense–they got after us and our quarterback was running around for his life tonight,” Triad Coach Calvin Potthast said of his offense that was held scoreless for the final 31 minutes of play.
Collinsville’s offense, however, was not done scoring.
The Kahoks tallied their next points with 1 minute and 57 seconds remaining in the half. Their third touchdown of the night came from Rome Richardson, who rushed in from two yards out.
Their subsequent extra point gave the visitor’s a 20-17 lead.
Triad fumbled their next offensive snap, setting up the Kahoks with a 42 yard field. It took Collinsville just one play to cover that distance, as Reyonolds broke free for a lengthy touchdown run.
After returning the next kickoff to the Kahok 39 yard line, the Knights looked to close the gap before the break. Their drive culminated in a 37 yard field goal try, which just missed as time expired in the half.
The third quarter featured just two possessions, including a 58 yard and 8 minute march by the Kahoks that leaked into the fourth quarter. Their lengthy drive was ultimately cut short by a turnover on downs at Triad’s 22 yard line.
The game’s next three possessions ended in a turnover on downs as well, setting up the Kahoks at Triad’s 46 yard line. Collinsville parlayed their shortfield into another score, this time a 7 yard tout from Richardson.
A successful extra point delivered the game to a final of 34-17.
The IHSA has released football postseason assignments, including the Triad Knights hosting Morris in the opening round of action.
Triad, who finished with a 7-2 record, was awarded the 4th seed in the 16 team bracket of Class 5A South. Morris earned the 13th seed with a 5-4 record.
Morris has averaged 35.3 points of offense per game thus far, while allowing an average of 26.4 points defensively. All four of their losses this season have come against teams with seven wins or more.
Morris boasts an impressive historical resume, including three state championships and eight state runner-up finishes.
Triad and Morris do have postseason history against each other, having met in 2001 and 2016. Morris won both of those matchups, by respective scores of 27-16 and 14-7.
The winner of their first round matchup will advance to play the winner of 5th seeded Highland and 12th seeded Marion. In those potential matchups, Triad would host Highland and travel to Marion.
“Now, it’s do or die. I felt like Collinsville knew they were playing for their lives tonight and we weren’t ready to match their intensity and we weren’t ready to go tonight. That’s on me and I have to be better at getting them ready for a football game,” Coach Potthast spoke on the team’s mindset headed into the playoffs.
Rushing by Kahoks, Ian Dempsey provides a kick return. (Photo by Anthony Jones)
