There was a lot to celebrate Friday night at the Kewanee Boilermakers home opener against Erie-Prophetstown.
Prior to tipoff, several members of the Cernovich family were on hand for the dedication ceremony of the new Cernovich Fieldhouse. The Boilers then capped off the evening by cruising to a 28-0 shutout victory and moving to 2-0 on the season.
On E-P’s first possession, it looked as though the Panthers ground game might wreak havoc on Kewanee’s defensive line. E-P’s Connor Keegan capitalized on a misdirection play with a run of 15 yards. That was followed by a 17-yard gainer by Demetree Larson.
The Boilers defense then started finding its footing and pushed E-P back for consecutive losses and forced a punt. The punt sputtered and only traveled eight yards before going out of bounds near midfield at the 45 yard line.
The Boilers didn’t waste any time getting on the board. Senior quarterback Brady Clark found junior receiver Colson Welgat open for a 53-yard pass play.
Welgat was taken down two yards shy of the goal line, but Clark ran in the QB keeper for the first Boiler TD. His PAT kick was good for the 7-0 go-ahead score.
After the kickoff, the Panthers were ready to start their drive deep into Boiler territory at the 23. Clark came up big again when he had a good read on the Panthers pass play. He sat back and then hawkishly intercepted the pass and ran it in for the pick six.
Clark’s PAT kick was good and Kewanee held a 14-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
The Boilers scored their third TD near the end of the first half. After a short pass to junior receiver Davontae Jordan, Clark went to Welgat on two 10-yard passes and Kewanee marched downfield. Clark then connected on a 29-yard pass play to Jordan and the Boilers were 4 yards from the end zone.
Junior running back, Alex Duarte, punched it in from there. After another Clark extra point, the Boilers carried a 21-0 lead at the half.
The only other score of the game came late in the third quarter. Clark found Duarte on a big 39-yard pass play that resulted in the final score of the game.
A fourth Clark PAT kick was good and the Boilers held on for the 28-0 win. E-P falls to 0-2.
