Neuqua Valley 56, Larkin 39

Neuqua Valley running back Anton Wilkins made Wildcat history Friday night by rushing for a school-record 345 yards on 33 carries. As it turned out, the Wildcats needed every yard, holding off Upstate Eight foe Larkin and its high-octane spread offense 56-39 in Naperville. Wilkins broke former Wildcat Brian Johnson's rushing record of 252 yards set in 1998.

"There's not much I can say. I credit my coaches, my offensive line, my whole teammates. They had the faith in me," said Wilkins. "This (win) is big. We were just looking for a time where we could come out and dominate our side of the ball."

Larkin (2-3, 2-1) started fast with quarterback Cam Kinley hitting Jake Kane for an 80-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. Neuqua (2-3, 2-1) quickly answered with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Alex Lincoln to Conner Yearian. The two teams combined for 34 points in the first quarter alone.

While Wilkins was busy slicing and dicing his way through the Royals defense, it was the play of a special teams player that changed the momentum of the game. Senior kicker Nick Schneider used a strong south-north wind in the first quarter to drive every kickoff out of the end zone, preventing speedy returner Nick Bee from running the ball back. In the second quarter, he pooched two high kicks into a swirling wind. Both plays were recovered by Neuqua Valley and were turned into points.

"We really needed to be able to put the ball in the end zone with our offense and we were able to do that. We had been struggling with that. We needed every point that there was out there to have," said Wildcats coach Bryan Wells.

Larkin nearly matched Neuqua touchdowns for the first three quarters behind Kinley's strong game. The senior quarterback threw for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns but was forced to scramble out of the pocket repeatedly in the second half as the Wildcats applied more pressure.

"In the second half, they started blitzing off the corners and gave me a lot of pressure. I still tried to do what I could to get some time back there," said Kinley. "It's upsetting we keep giving up these many points and losing after we score so many points."

"I told these kids coming in this is probably the best 1-3 team you'll ever face," said Royals coach Dave Bierman. "Defensively, we need to get a stop now and then."