David Asher had plenty to celebrate.
The junior receiver/cornerback made big plays in all three phases of the game to help Manteno earn its first IHSA playoff win since 2016, 62-7 over visiting Mendota on Oct. 24.
And the defensive plays he made — a pair of interceptions — put him in the program record book. Asher has six picks this season and seven for his career, both new Panthers bests.
He had a feeling he’d set the records in this game.
“Watching a lot of game film, I knew there was a lot of opportunities for me to be able to get that,” he said. “Especially with a great defense that was applying pressure, not giving the quarterback a clean look.
“I was glad that I was in the right spot getting those opportunities, and I pulled through.”
That was no surprise to Manteno coach R.J. Haines.
“He’s a good football player, man,” Haines said. “He’s got great hands, he’s got great instincts.”
Asher also scored a touchdown each on offense and special teams. He caught two passes for 87 yards and a score and had three punt returns for 95 yards and a TD.
“We came out with a ton of energy, and that was really important,” Asher said. “We just needed to prove to them that — coming onto our home field … we’re here to win and that they weren’t going to have a chance.”
Manteno led 27-0 after one quarter and 48-0 at halftime.
“We told the kids before the game, ‘Hey, we need to come out fast, we need to come out violent and just execute and just end it right there,'” Haines said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Quarterback Logan Bufford had an efficient and productive game. He was 7 of 8 passing for 230 yards and three touchdowns. and also ran for three scores.
“He’s always been a great athlete, tough kid,” Haines said of Bufford. “He has good instincts. But now he’s starting to really understand what coverages (he’s seeing) and where the ball needs to go and he’s done a great job.”
Briggs Cann (two catches, 84 yards) and Jack Gotkowski (three catches, 59 yards) joined Asher in hauling in scoring passes. Nick Honkisz ran four times for 65 yards and a TD.
“First playoff win in … 10 years — we’ve been wanting this bad,” Bufford said. “After every single loss this season, we’ve been saying, ‘It’s all right, we still got playoffs.’ We’re 1-0 now. We came out here and executed, did what we needed to do.”
Manteno (7-3), the ninth seed in the north half of the Class 3A bracket, is on the round Oct. 30 at eighth seed Peru St. Bede (7-2). Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
More playoff pairings
The area’s other two playoff qualifiers return to action on Oct. 31 after earning opening-round byes.
Peotone (7-2), the eighth seed in the north half of Class 2A, hosts ninth seed Illini West (8-2) at 2 p.m.
Crete (7-2), the eighth seed in the south half of Class 5A, hosts ninth seed Corliss (8-2), also at 2 p.m.