Knights Win!!! Clinch Berth in IHSA Class 2A Football State Playoffs
#15 ALAH junior, Noah Garrett tackles the Blue Devils’ workhorse back Zimmerman in the game last Friday night at home. Noah tied for leading tackler in the game with 13 tackles. The Knights won the game 49-22.
By SALLY McCARTHY
Staff Writer
The Arthur Lovington Atwood Hammond Knights played hosts to the Villa Grove Blue Devils in the final regular season game for the 2021 season. The Knights on the strength of Kaden Feagin’s five touchdowns came out with a 49-22 victory. The win gives ALAH a 5-4 record and that qualifies them for the I.H.S.A. State Playoffs.
The Knights won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. That would prove to be beneficial due to the way the first half ended. The Knights stopped the Blue Devils on their first series and forced them to punt without giving up one first down. On the Knights’ first possession a series of runs gained 14 yards and then a 15 yard penalty on VG put the ball at the Devils’ 18. Max Allen picked up a gain of 4 and Kaden Feagin got 11 that moved the ball to the 4 yard line. Kaden would take it in from there for his first touchdown in the game.
Chilton Ingram’s kick was good and the home team led 7-0 with 9:15 left in the first.
The visitors turned the ball over on downs due in part to a big quarterback sack by ALAH’s Austin Abercrombie that dropped Villa Grove’s offense back eleven yards.
The Knights used their run game effectively on a long drive on their next series. During the drive Kaden gained 40 yards, Mason Allen, 14, Landon Waldrop, 8 and Max Allen, 9 to put the ball on the 1. Kaden would take it in from there for his second TD. Ingram’s kick was no good and at the 3:57 mark of the first ALAH had the lead at 13-0.
It looked like Villa Grove couldn’t score and ALAH couldn’t be stopped but the Knights’ next series ended with a bad punt snap and then the Blue Devil defense blocked the attempted punt and Hunter Butts of VG recovered the ball in the end zone to put the visitors on the board.
Their kick was no good but the lead was trimmed to 13-6 with just 31.5 seconds left in the half.
It seemed as if there wouldn’t be time to mount a drive to score but Kaden wasn’t done scoring. His last and third touchdown in the first half was a 58 yard run that saw the clock run out as he crossed the goal line. Chilton’s kick was good and the Knights led 20-6 at the half.
As mentioned earlier, the Knights had won the coin toss and deferred to the second half which meant they got the ball first in the third quarter. VG tried an onside kick but Austin Abercrombie of the Knights fell on the ball and the home team was in business at their own 48.
Again the running game moved the ball and at the 10:02 mark, Kaden scored his fourth td on a 34 yard run. VG was offsides on the EP kick so the Knights went for the two point conversion and Mason Allen successfully executed that with a run to give ALAH a 28-6 more comfortable lead.
The Blue Devils first three possessions of the second half ended in a punt and they turned the ball over on downs twice. One of those was caused by a huge stop by the Knights’ defense on a fourth and short play that brought out the sticks for a measurement but the ball was inches short of the line to gain.
ALAH scored three more times, the first on Kaden’s fifth and final score of the game, a 44 yard run. The kick was successful and the lead was 35-6 with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter. Their next touchdown was a 47 yard pass from Feagin to Drew Cotton at the 10:08 mark of the fourth. Ingram’s kick gave the Knights a 42-6 lead. Landon Waldrop scored the final td for the home team in the game on a 35 yard run. Once again the kick was good and the Knights had put 49 points on the board. Their last score came with 3:35 left in the game.
Villa Grove did score twice in the fourth. The first was a 14 yard pass from quarterback Liam Barr to Layne Rund. Rund also got the two point conversion that made the score 42-14 with 5:23 left. Their last score was a 39 yard pass again to Rund. A two point pass to Elijah Kiesel made the final score 49-22.
The Knights move into postseason play next Friday, October 29 in the I.H.S.A. Class 2A State Playoffs. Their first week opponent will be the Pana Panthers. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Pana High School. We have great fan support so everyone make the trip to Pana on Friday to cheer on ALAH Knights in their first round game in the State Football Playoffs!!!
Stats from our big Week 9 victory over Villa Grove from Coach Ryan Jefferson
*Kaden Feagin became the 2nd leading rusher in Arthur, Arthur-Lovington, Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond football program history in the first quarter! He sits around 600 yards behind Tyler Schuring, who sits in 1st place.
*He is also the first 1,000 yard rusher for a single season for our team for the first time since Tyler Schuring in 2014.
OFFENSIVE STATS
Rushing – Kaden Feagin, 19 for 233 & 5 Tds; Landon Waldrop, 8 for 78 & 1 TD; Mason Allen, 7 for 46; Max Allen, 6 for 43; Jayce Parsons, 2 for 20; Noah Garrett, 2 for 17; Alex Rexroad, 2 for -17
Passing – Kaden Feagin, 5 of 9 for 68 yards & 1 TD
Receiving – Drew Cotton, 1 for 47 & 1 TD; Jayce Parsons, 2 for 9; Noah Garrett, 2 for 12
DEFENSIVE STATS
Tackles – Kaden Feagin, 13; Noah Garrett, 13; Austin Abercrombie, 7; Drew Cotton, 7; .Landon Waldrop, 6; Max Allen, 4; Kody Kornewald, 4; Mason Allen, 3; Caleb Corum, 2; Jayce Parsons, 2; Mackenley Bowles, 1
Pass Break-Ups – Landon Waldrop, 3; Kaden Feagin, 2; Noah Garrett, 1; Jayce Parsons, 1
Sacks – Austin Abercrombie, 2
SPECIAL TEAMS STATS
PATs – Chilton Ingram, 5 of 6
Kick-Offs – Chilton Ingram, 7 for 286
Punts – Landon Waldrop, 1 for 41
Punt Returns – Kaden Feagin, 1 for 11
Kick Returns – Landon Waldrop, 1 for 12; .Alex Rexroad, 1 for 0 (onside kick recovery); Austin Abercrombie, 1 for 0 (onside kick recovery); Colin Smith, 1 for 0 (onside kick recovery)
