Rochester's dominance, Williamsville's tough loss top Week 7 takeaways in Springfield area

Here are the top high school football takeaways for Week 7 from the Springfield area.

More: High school football Week 7: Scores, schedule from around the Springfield area

Rochester defense raises its level

The defense of the top-ranked Class 4A Rockets have put on a clinic over the last four weeks.

Rochester (7-0) has intercepted four passes for touchdowns in the last two games and has outscored its opponents 236-6 over the last four contests. Wide receiver and defensive back Henry Buecker had a pair of interception returns for TDs in the Rockets' 55-0 Central State Eight Conference victory over Lincoln (5-2). It was his third and fourth picks of the season and Rochester has 20 as a team this season.

The Rockets bottled up Lincoln's ground game. Twin brothers Ki'on and Kani Carson, combined for minus 9 yards rushing and the Railers finished with minus 4 total yards for the game. Lincoln quarterback Darren Stevens completed just 1-of-7 passes for 7 yards with two interceptions.

Meanwhile, Rochester's offense keeps rolling. Rochester had 189 rushing yards in the first half and quarterback Bryan Zulauf went 9-for-12 for 154 yards through the air. Nolan Mrozowski had 95 yards rushing on six carries by halftime and delivered a 54-yard TD reception and a 55-yard touchdown run. Rochester triggered a running clock with 9 minutes to play in the second quarter and led 41-0 at the half.

Overall, Lincoln hasn't had much luck against Rochester in their last four meetings. The Rockets have outscored the Railers 171-0 during that span.

More: Top performers from Week 7 of high school football in the Springfield area

Maurer's heroics stop Bullets' upset bid

It came down to who had the ball last.

With 2 minutes 39 seconds remaining in the fourth period, an under-duress Kaiden Maurer completed a 31-yard pass to Mitch Williams on fourth-and-11 and unbeaten Maroa-Forsyth eventually scored the game-winning touchdown to beat Williamsville 25-21 in a Sangamo Conference showdown.

Maurer's 11-yard TD pass to Grant Smith with 34 seconds left capped off the drive. The Trojans turned the tables on the Bullets when Williamsville converted a pair of fourth downs on the previous possession to take a 21-18 lead with 3:45 to go. Braylon Singer's fourth-down catch put Williamsville in Maroa-Forsyth's territory and Braddock Cates ran 28 yards, also on fourth down, to put the Bullets into the red zone. Mason Lyttaker's 1-yard run gave Williamsville the three-point lead.

The Bullets (5-2) methodically controlled the first half on both sides of the ball. Colin Burge scored from one-yard out and Lyttaker finished off a 48-yard drive to give the Bullets a 14-3 lead at intermission.

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The momentum shifted when the Trojans outscored Williamsville 15-0 in the third quarter. Zayn Giles caught a 34-yard pass from Maurer and Maurer's 1-yard score and 2-point completion made it 14-11. Maurer's 1-yard TD run followed a shifty 73-yard jaunt from the senior quarterback that put the Trojans at Williamsville's 10. The touchdown gave Maroa-Forsyth an 18-14 advantage heading into the final period.

It was the first time the Class 2A top-ranked Trojans had beaten the Class 3A sixth-ranked Bullets in back-to-back seasons.

Glenwood offense shows progress

Gavin Simmons nearly returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

The Chatham Glenwood junior wideout still wound up with 11 catches for 103 yards and a TD in a 35-0 Central State Eight Conference victory over Normal University.

Simmons has emerged as sophomore QB Colten Knoedler’s top receiver. He now has 31 receptions for 377 yards and three scores this season.

Glenwood’s offense began to mesh in the second half against Class 5A No. 5 Sacred Heart-Griffin last week and that progress seemed to carry over against the Pioneers while adding junior backup QB Brady Dwyer as another option at running back.

Dwyer, Jacob Ahlberg and Micah Grussenmeyer combined for 122 rushing yards and two scores on 30 carries.

“We’ve been working on it since the beginning of the season, really, because we’re a really young offense,” Simmons said of the offense in general. “We lost a lot of people last year, but week-by-week we keep seeing improvement.

“I feel like we keep coming out with the same mentality every week of getting better.”

Knoedler ran for 37 yards and a TD on 12 attempts and completed 15 of 27 passes for 190 yards and two scores. Simmons hauled in a diving 13-yard TD grab early in the fourth quarter.

“He’s obviously a sophomore and he’s real young,” Simmons said of Knoedler. “Every single week he keeps getting better. He comes to practice each day with a winning mentality and just wants to get better.”

More: Litchfield defense pitches shutout, Sypherd runs wild as Purple Panthers get 4th win

SHG uses balance to dispatch Panthers

Seven different players scored for Sacred Heart-Griffin in the first half of the Cyclones' 64-6 romp of Decatur Eisenhower in the CS8 Conference.

Christian Pollard gave the Cyclones (6-1) a 14-0 lead with a pair of rushing touchdowns. Then Ethan Keller stepped in and returned an interception 31 yards for a score to give SHG a 21-point lead. Backup quarterback Trent Caldwell's 2-yard score made it 28-6.

Quarterback Levi Hanauer, who shared time at the position with Caldwell, added a 20-yard rushing TD. Caldwell came back with a 54-yard TD pass to Chris Link, and Donovan Scott rushed for a score as SHG led 49-6 after one quarter.

Drew Ward rushed from 6 yards and the Cyclones went into halftime with a 56-6 advantage.

Jacksonville ends slide

Jacksonville jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and snapped a four-game losing streak with a 35-8 Central State Eight Conference victory over Southeast at Spartan Field.

Seniors Cam’Ron Mitchell and Mani Moore combined for 331 rushing yards and two scores. Each delivered a long TD run in the third quarter for a 28-0 advantage to keep the Crimsons (3-4 overall, 3-3 CS8) in the playoff hunt.

Jacksonville can certainly win out to become playoff-eligible but faces quality opponents. It welcomes Springfield High (2-5) in Week 8 before visiting Normal U-High (5-2) to end the regular season.

Decatur MacArthur, which dropped to Jacksonville in a Week 2 thriller, perhaps faces an equally challenging path to the playoffs despite its 54-0 rout over Lanphier to improve to 4-3 overall.

The Generals host Class 5A No. 5 Sacred Heart-Griffin at Stephen Decatur Middle School before traveling to Bloomington (4-3) out of the Big 12.

How has the CS8 fared against the Big 12?

Springfield High had the misfortune of drawing Class 6A No. 8 Normal West in its crossover game against the Big 12 and lost 35-7 to fall out of the playoff picture.

The Big 12 holds the upper hand so far at 6-4. Champaign Centennial visits Decatur Eisenhower in Week 8 while Bloomington hosts MacArthur.

Litchfield has a fresh leg

In Class 3A football, having a reliable kicker for extra points can sometimes be iffy. Having someone with the ability to get three points with a field goal is even rarer.

Litchfield has such a player. Meet freshman Cooper Martin.

Before Friday's game, Litchfield coach Dan Carlson was praising his team — especially workhorse senior running back A.J. Sypherd — mentioned how sophomore quarterback Ethan Saathoff has the potential to raise the Purple Panthers' offensive abilities in the next two years and said his his players have an increased in the hallways of Litchfield High School with a 3-3 record before Friday's South Central Conference game at Staunton. Litchfield ended its 47-game losing streak against Staunton last season and finished 1-8.

Then he brought up Martin. Before Friday's game, Martin was successful on all three of his field-goal attempts, including two from 32-yards away. He was also 12-for-17 on PAT kicks, including 5-for-5 in a Week 6 win over Gillespie.

Against Staunton, he was 4-for-4 on PAT kicks — a fumbled snap prevented him from a fifth attempt — and hit a 28-yard field goal to give the Purple Panthers (5-2) a 16-0 halftime lead. His 28 points through seven games is second on the team. Sypherd, who scored three touchdowns on Friday, leads the team with 88 points.

Martin gives Carlson an option for points instead of turning the ball over on downs and he aids the Panthers' defense as well. He's had two touchbacks on his kickoffs which forces opposing offenses to begin drives on their own 20-yard line. Martin is averaging 44.4 points over 31 kickoffs.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Top takeaways from around Springfield for Week 7