***Jayden Magnussen is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.
On Saturday evening, the Annawan-Wethersfield Titans played against the Deer Creek-Mackinaw Chiefs.
This game concluded the second round of 1-A Illinois football and determined who would advance to the quarterfinals.
The bleachers were packed with fans from both teams, filled with energy and excitement.
After a long-fought victory, 33-26, the Titans will advance to the quarterfinals to play against Lena-Winslow, a recurring quarterfinal rival from the 2023 season.
To start the game off, the Chiefs started on offense and were hot off the bat, bulldozing and trucking the Titans’ defense, getting repetitive first downs, and even scoring a touchdown to make the score 6-0.
The ball then returned to the Titans, but they failed to score.
Quickly in the second quarter, with a timestamp of 11:53, the Chiefs achieved another touchdown.
The odds were not looking in favor of the Titans; not having points on the board, being on enemy ground, and constant cheers from the rival side.
Nonetheless, the Titans held onto their hope, stayed steady, and pushed through.
Continuing through the second quarter, the Titans picked up their first touchdown and finalized the score to 6-12 before halftime.
Halfway through the third quarter, after a reinforced offense and defense for the Titans, the Chiefs still pulled off another touchdown.
Not long after, the Titans and Chiefs obtained back-to-back touchdowns, making the score 26-20 with a lead from the Chiefs.
In this final quarter, the Titans knew they had to act fast and prevail over them, and so they did.
With many mistakes from the Chiefs going into this quarter, the Titans hastily tied up the score 26-26.
What seemed to be the depletion of Deer Creek-Mackinaw’s luck, the A-W Titans took the lead 33-26 over the Chiefs after anotherr touchdown by Devon Horrie.
After an unsuccessful Dee-Mac attempt to catch up and retie the score with the Titans, the Titans now move on and play on their home turf this upcoming Saturday afternoon against Lena-Winslow.
