Sycamore escapes Rochelle with fourth straight one-score victory

ROCHELLE – In a battle between undefeated conference rivals, Sycamore and Rochelle delivered a memorable Interstate 8 opener that saw both teams fighting until the final drive.

Trailing with under a minute to play and no timeouts remaining, Rochelle moved the ball from its own 15-yard line to near midfield on a pair of successful passes.

But after a sack and two missed throws, Sycamore forced the Hubs into a fourth-and-10 down with the game on the line. Rochelle quarterback Carson Lewis escaped the pocket and found a running lane, but the Spartan defense rallied and forced him out of bounds 1-yard short of the line to gain.

It was the third turnover on downs forced by the Sycamore defense, which allowed the offense to kneel down over the final seconds to clinch a 25-19 win over Rochelle. It's also the fourth consecutive one-score victory for the Spartans (4-0, 1-0 Interstate 8), who entered Friday night's game ranked No. 5 in Class 5A while the Hubs were ranked No. 10 by the Associated Press.

"This team just never gives up," said Sycamore senior and Iowa recruit Burke Gautcher, who completed nine passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns while adding four tackles on defense. "The last four games have all been one-score games, but we never give up. Coach [Joe] Ryan always tells us that there are 48 minutes in a game and we play through all 48 minutes."

Rochelle (3-1, 0-1 Interstate 8) struck first on Friday, moving the ball 64 yards on 12 plays with its wing-T rushing attack before scoring on a 16-yard touchdown run by tailback Grant Gensler, who led the Hubs with 111 yards on the ground. The Spartans responded almost immediately, with Gautcher launching a 55-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Aidan Wyzard, who beat Hub cornerback Xavier Villalobos downfield on Sycamore's second offensive play.

"We know the kind of athletes we have at wide receiver," Gautcher said. "Aidan's really fast and we were able to give him a couple of deep balls tonight. We felt confident in him coming in."

Sycamore led 8-7 after an encroachment on kicker Thatcher Friedrichs' extra-point attempt led to a successful quarterback sneak by Gautcher. A three-and-out on Rochelle's next drive gave the ball back to the Spartans, who extended their lead on another deep pass from Gautcher to Wyzard, who beat Hub cornerback Dylan Manning over the middle for a 79-yard touchdown.

While the Spartans contained Rochelle's rushing attack for most of the first half, the Hubs found some running room late in the second quarter, moving the ball inside the Sycamore red zone with under two minutes to play in the half. Faced with a third-and-11 deep in Spartan territory, Lewis stood tall in a clean pocket and fired a 13-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Jack Tilton to bring the Hubs within two points. A failed 2-point try made the score 15-13 at the half.

Rochelle received the second-half kickoff, but the Hubs were unable to capitalize on their newfound momentum, as a three-and-out gave the ball right back to the Spartans. Sycamore took advantage of the defensive stand, stringing together an eight-play, 59-yard drive that concluded with a 3-yard scoring plunge from Gautcher, who barreled forward from under center.

"We knew they were a physical team that liked to run the wing stuff," Gautcher said. "I have to give big props to our defensive linemen and our linebackers. They were making plays."

Sycamore's defense delivered another clutch play midway through the third quarter, where a pursuit of the Rochelle quarterback Lewis led to a strip and a fumble that Spartan linebacker Caden O'Donnell recovered. Sycamore added points off the Rochelle turnover, with Friedrichs drilling a 30-yard field goal to give the Spartans their largest lead at 25-13.

Despite trailing by two touchdowns, Rochelle managed to find success through the air during the fourth quarter, where a trio of competitions and a trio of first-down runs from Lewis helped the Hubs sustain a 10-play, 66-yard scoring drive that ended with a 6-yard rushing touchdown by fullback Roman Villalobos. Rochelle then burned its remaining timeouts and forced a three-and-out on Sycamore's next drive to retake possession with 1:45 left in the game.

The Hubs completed two passes for 29 yards on their final drive, but it was ultimately the Spartan defense that made the final stop of the evening, pushing Lewis out of bounds on a fourth-and-10 scramble to retake the ball and seal the Interstate 8 victory. Kevin Lee led the Sycamore defense with 11 tackles, while Cooper Bode added six tackles in the win.

"It gives us some confidence, but we know there's a lot of football left," Gautcher said. "We have five more games and our focus is to take things day by day and get ready for next week."