***William Ly is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.

The Kewanee Boilermakers continued their win streak last Friday night with a win against the Sherrard Tigers. 

The Boilermakers secured a huge 48-6 win, and senior running back Alex Duarte became the all-time touchdown leader for the Boilermakers.

The game began with the Boilermakers receiving the first kickoff. In just five minutes, Duarte scored his first touchdown of the game, breaking the school record. 

Tyler Johnston kicked the extra point to give the Boilermakers an early 7–0 lead.

Shortly after, Sherrard’s hope to retaliate was crushed by junior Abram Hicks’s interception. The Boilermakers turned this change of momentum into an offensive opportunity. 

Senior quarterback Colson Welgat found senior Marquelle King down the field for another touchdown. 

The Boilermakers were up 13-0, with four minutes left in the first quarter

In just two minutes, the Boilermaker defense forced Sherrard to punt. The Boilermakers decided to take this opportunity to increase the score before the first quarter ended. Duarte made his second run into the end zone to increase the score to 19-0 before the second quarter.

The beginning of the second quarter was a back-and-forth between the two teams until freshman Ace Lafollette took it down the field for a 67-yard touchdown. 

Instead of their usual kick, the Boilermakers went for a two-point conversion. They succeeded, as Welgat found Ben Taylor to give the Boilermakers a 27-0 lead seven minutes before the end of the first half.

Sherrard’s next attempt to score was quickly stopped when senior Greyden Lewis intercepted the ball in the end zone. Right after the interception, Welgat connected with Dontaveon Thomas wide-open for an 80-yard touchdown to increase the score to 33-0

After the halftime break, Duarte got the Boilermakers’ third interception of the night and ran the ball 81 yards to get his third touchdown. The Boilermakers scored another two-point conversion on a Welgat pass to Taylor.

With the score being 41-0 in the beginning of the third quarter, the Tigers’ fate was sealed. The Tigers scored their only touchdown of the night in the third quarter on a pass from junior Carter Brown to junior Harrison Curry. 

The Boilermakers scored once more with Welgat reaching Taylor. Welgat then kicked the ball in for the last point of the game. 

The game ended 48-6 in favor of the Boilermakers, and Duarte officially became the all-time touchdown leader for Kewanee High School.

“It’s a big honor to beat a record that stood at the school for as long as it did, but when it (chance) came up I didn’t let it change how I was going to play,” Duarte said after the game.

He also expressed his gratitude towards his team for helping him break the record.

The Boilermakers (4-3) will face off against Newman Central Catholic (6-1) at Kewanee High School Stadium at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18. Senior night festivities will also take place, as this match will be the Boilers’ last home game of the season.

Game stats:

The Boilermakers finished with 261 rushing yards. Most of the yards came from LaFollette with 104 yards on six carries, and Alex Duarte with 50 yards on nine carries.

Senior quarterback Colson Welgat went 10 for 12 on the night and racked up 259 passing yards. He also had three touchdown passes.

Touchdowns came from Duarte (two), King (one), LaFollette (one), Taylor (one), Thomas (one)

The Tigers had 19 rushing yards in total. 

Tiger quarterback Carter Brown went 11-23 for 154 yards

Harrison Curry scored the Tigers’ only touchdown.