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EDWARDSVILLE – It was a very stellar day for both Kendall Abdur-Rahman and Justin Johnson, Jr., as Abdur-Rahman passed for three touchdowns and Johnson scored three times in Edwardsville’s 45-16 win over West Aurora in their second-round game of the IHSA Class 8A football playoffs, played Saturday evening at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers, now 8-3 on the season, dominated in all phases of the game, unofficially racking up over 500 yards of total offense and forcing three turnovers defensively, converting two of them into scores.
Edwardsville won the coin toss and decided to take the ball first. The opening four play, 64-yard drive for the first touchdown helped to set the tone for the game.
“It was about four or five plays, the kids executed well,” said Tiger coach Matt Martin, “and it was important. We take the ball before, and sometimes, it’s a three and out, and I kick myself. But I thought the kids took the ball and executed well and scored, and that’s how you win.”
Most of the Tigers’ yardage came on the ground, with Johnson leading the way.
“Justin ran like a man, didn’t he?” Martin said. “I think people really make an effort to take Kendall away, and when they do that, Justin takes advantage of it. And I thought our wide receivers downfield were blocking great all night long. That’s why you get big runs, and our O-line did a good job handling their pressure. They blitz a lot, and if you can get a hat on a hat when they blitz, you have a chance to get big plays.”
Abdur-Rahman also had a great game passing, throwing for the three touchdowns while running for two more scores.
“Yeah, we protected well, he threw the ball well, and we caught the ball,” Martin said. “So all the facets of the passing game worked pretty well tonight.”
The defense also came up big, with an interception and fumble recovery, shutting down a very good Blackhawk offense.
“I thought so,” Martin said. “I think they’re a real good football team.”
And the offensive line played exceptionally well also.
“Awesome,” Martin said. “I think Coach (Doug) Heinz does a great job with them. I think they’re grinders. I’m proud of them, they’ve never complained. All they do is work hard.”
The Tigers took the ball first and immediately launched into their 64-yard drive that took four plays In only 65 seconds. Abdur-Rahman completed a pass over the middle to Jack Cooper for 25 yards on the second play, and one play later hit Johnson in a seam for a 26-yard touchdown pass. Brendan Latham’s kick was good to give Edwardsville an early 7-0 lead.
Later on, the Tigers returned a punt to their own 25, but a penalty gave the ball back to West Aurora, which they promptly took advantage of, going 32 yards in four plays. Moshe Rogers made a diving catch of a William Tammau pass on the first play, then on third and goal, Trevon Tittle went in from a yard out, with Logan Mont’s convert tying things up at 7-7 with 3:10 left in the period.
“I don’t know what the deal was on that punt,” Martin said. “I saw that as a turnover; we should have got the ball, but that put us in a bad field position. Our kids fought hard, but they got a score out off that. That’s frustrating.”
Edwardsville got that back on the next possession, driving 60 yards in 11 plays and taking 4:41 off the clock. The Tigers, with Johnson and Abdur-Rahman leading the way, kept getting chunks of yardage on each play, with Abdur-Rahman completing an 18-yard pass to Dionte Rodgers. Abdur-Rahman took it in from three yards out early in the second term, with Latham’s convert giving Edwardsville the lead back for good at 14-7.
Both teams then exchanged turnovers, but it was the Tigers who were able to capitalize, taking only two plays to score. On a second and five from the Blackhawk 20, Abdur-Rahman pitched to Johnson, who made a brilliant spin move to get away from a tackler, and took off to the end zone for the touchdown 3:01 from halftime. The convert made it 21-7.
West Aurora took the ensuing kickoff and started driving, aided by a 38-yard completion from Tammau to Rogers to put the ball on the Tigers’ 10. The defense came up big, and Mont’s 20-yard field goal attempt was good, making the score 21-10 Edwardsville at halftime.
Edwardsville’s first possession of the second half took 2:27 to go 59 yards in seven plays, starting with big runs of 22 and 20 yards by Johnson and Abdur-Rahman respectively. A pass interference flag put the ball on the one, where Abdur-Rahman took it in to up the Tiger lead to 28-10 after the extra point.
On the next possession, Ryan Strohmeier recovered a fumble, and the Tigers again cashed in. Johnson ran for 21 yards, then made a couple of great moves after catching a pass, and went in from 11 yards out, making the score 35-10 after Latham’s kick.
Right after getting the ball back on downs on their own one-yard line, Johnson on the third play went 42 yards for a first down, then Abdur-Rahman completed a pass to Rodgers, who made a brilliant run after the catch to go 48 yards and another touchdown that made the score 42-10.
In the fourth quarter, West Aurora went 67 yards on eight plays, highlighted by another good Rogers catch of a Tammau pass, going for 31 yards and a 22-yard completion to Hezekiah Salter. JaQuan Buchanan went up the middle 10 yards for the touchdown, but a two-point pass play went incomplete, leaving the score 42-16.
On the last Tiger scoring drive, Johnson went up the far sideline 25 yards for a first down, but the drive eventually stalled, and Latham kicked a 28-yard field goal with 4:07 left to make the final 45-16 score.
Edwardsville’s offense consistently moved the ball, getting medium-sized gains along with its share of big plays.
“Moving the chains, moving the chains, then had a couple of big plays on top of it,” Martin said. “A great team effort tonight.”
The Tigers advance to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year and will be on the road next weekend at Frankfort Lincoln-Way East, a 45-0 winner over Glen Ellyn Glenbard West. Martin was very happy with the win but has already started preparing for next week’s game.
“You know, I’ve already started preparing my head for Lincoln-Way East,’ Martin said with a smile. “You know what? You’re right, though. Sometimes, we’ve done so much winning, that sometimes, I don’t know. Not that we take it for granted, but maybe we don’t have the excitement we should, but we will enjoy it tonight. It’s emotionally exhausting, it is. I just want to take a breather and start preparing for Lincoln-Way East.”
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
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