It was the Nick Cronin show on Sept. 25 for Peotone in a 40-0 shutout of visiting Reed-Custer in an Illinois Central Eight clash.
Cronin, the 165-pound senior running back, sent the homecoming crowd home happy with his 176 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He also tacked on a 45-yard TD reception from fellow senior Alex Chenoweth to account for four of the six touchdowns.
“We knew that they were going to start cutting us, and our o-line really responded,” Cronin said. “I appreciate that. I really love my o-line.”
After Declan McMaster and Eli Chenoweth punched in short-yardage touchdowns to give the Blue Devils (5-1, 3-1 ICE) a 12-0 first quarter lead, Cronin did the rest in finding the end zone four straight times. He scored on runs of 1 and 39 yards for a 26-0 halftime lead.
Reed-Custer moved the ball into Peotone territory on its first drive of the second half before Cronin came up with the defensive play of the game. Kaden Klein hauled in a short pass for the Comets (2-4, 1-3), Cronin punched out the ball and the Devils fell on the fumble.
“I kind of knew that kid wasn’t really good at holding the ball, so I just went right up to him and punched it right out, made a big hit,” Cronin said. “We needed that. That really helped a lot.”
On the next play, Cronin ran up the middle for a 71-yard TD to leave little doubt of the outcome with a 33-0 lead with 5:22 left in the third quarter.
“Nick had a heck of a game,” said Eli Chenoweth, who finished with 68 yards rushing. “Running the ball, multiple 60-plus yard runs, that punch-out here on defense, that was a big turning point, especially coming out of halftime. We came out a little dead, not how we wanted. With Nick coming up and popping that ball, that really turned it around and got momentum for us to score. And him running it right afterwards was great.”
Peotone finished with 412 total yards of offense with 51 coming on two pass completions. The defense held the Comets to 150 total yards.
Eli Chenoweth said they aim for a shutout each night.
“That’s our No. 1 goal,” he said. “Two weeks in a row, it’s a great feeling, especially after last season.”
Coach Tolly Tsiamas said his senior-led squad is getting better each week, and a trip to Coal City is next. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Oct. 2.
“Week 3 we kind of got punched in the face (by Wilmington), and I wasn’t sure how we would respond after that, ” Tsiamas said. “But boy, we put together three really good football games and that starts with our seniors, these guys standing over here: Nick, Declan and Eli.
“The offensive line (and) our quarterback Alex Chenoweth are doing everything we ask of them on offense and defense.
“The kids are playing hard. They’re being extremely coachable. It’s a lot of fun to show up to work right now. It feels good to get win No. 5, but we want No. 6.”
Crete-Monee 56, Rich 6: Amarre Carey ran for 213 yards and three touchdowns to lead Crete (5-1, 4-0 Southland) to an easy home win on Sept. 25.
The Warriors host Bradley-Bourbonnais 6 p.m. Oct. 2.
Coal City 42, Manteno 14: Nick Honkisz caught a 31-yard TD pass from Logan Bufford and Jeremiah Alexander had a 17-yard scoring run for visiting Manteno (4-2, 2-2 ICE) on Sept. 25.
Bufford completed 14 of 29 passes for 165 yards with a TD and an interception. Alexander ran seven times for 50 yards, David Asher had nine catches for 69 yards and Briggs Cann added two receptions for 56 yards. Franklin Jordan led the Panthers’ defense with nine total tackles.
Manteno hosts Lisle at 7 p.m. Oct. 2.
Vedette staff contributed to this story.