Kaneland’s Jackson Little understands the mantra of “next man up” espoused by high school football coaches far and wide when it comes to injuries.
A 6-foot, 205-pound junior linebacker, Little has experienced it firsthand. Earlier this season, he missed three games with an avulsion fracture to the outside of his ankle.
Little returned quickly but experienced another side of it Friday night when the Knights lost junior linebacker Rogan O’Neil, the team’s leading tackler, in the second half to an upper-body injury.
“He’s a great player, a good leader and a great guy on the field,” Little said of O’Neil, who entered the game with a team-high 52 tackles. “When it happens, we’ve got guys ready to take that role.
“One guy goes down, another has to step up. This was frustrating, though. We made mistakes with penalties toward the end. Playing the run the whole time and they hurt us with two passes.”
It also seemed like a wrinkle in time, with visiting Rochelle riding an option running attack to build a huge advantage in time of possession for a 21-20 Interstate Eight Conference victory over the host Knights in Maple Park.
Rochelle held the ball for 35:01 of the 48-minute game, limiting Kaneland (5-2, 2-2) to just 12:59. The Hubs (4-3, 2-2) also were inspired, playing for an injured teammate in Dylan Manning.
The junior running back, who has gained 2,000-plus yards for his career, sustained a serious head injury the previous week at Morris and remained hospitalized following surgery.
Manning’s family members attended the game, with two of his brothers serving as honorary captains for the coin toss. There was a prayer and a moment of silence as both teams gathered at midfield.
Kaneland’s Jack Parker, a senior linebacker, picked up a vibe from the opening kickoff.
“They were definitely charged up, ready to play,” Parker said. “They were playing for him. They wanted it. They came out and executed better than us on offense and beat our defense down.”
Senior fullback Roman Villalobos led the way for the Hubs. He gained 140 yards on 32 carries and scored three short touchdowns. Three extra-point kicks by Aaron Hernandez were the difference.
Kaneland scored quickly, with an 11-yard TD run and a 3-yard TD run by senior running back Carter Grabowski and a 6-yard TD run by senior quarterback Jalen Carter.
The Knights, however, had one extra-point kick blocked and missed another one, sandwiched around a successful 2-point conversion.
“We just couldn’t get them off the field,” Kaneland coach Mike Thorgesen said of the run-heavy Hubs. “First-and-10, second-and-7, third-and-3, first down. That’s the formula for them to win.
“The way our offense was playing, that was their way to win — hold onto the ball and score when they had it.”
Grabowski finished with 146 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving, but the Hubs countered with scoring drives that ate up 9:30, 2:31 and 12:42 in time of possession. They also converted three plays on fourth down, including Villalobos’ late run that allowed them to run out the clock.
By that point, O’Neil’s absence had been felt.
“It’s huge,” Parker said. “He’s been the heart and soul of our run-stopping defense the past few weeks, and it’s just a big loss that hurt us in the end.”
While Rochelle held a 55-34 edge in plays, its advantage in total yards was just 260-255.
“It was heartbreaking because we’d get the third-down stop and they’d make a fourth-down conversion,” Little said. “It was just like we couldn’t do the one more play we needed.”
Could O’Neil have made a difference?
“He’s our best linebacker,” Thorgesen said. “Not having him in the second half, maybe that’s worth a stop, maybe not. He’s a good player and we would have liked to have him for a game like this.
“He’s a tackle machine. We could have used him.”
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