Round 2 | EPC vs Chicago Christian
Palos Heights -
The Catz made the long trip to Palos Heights for their 2nd round game with Chicago Christian, and with them came all the towns of Lanark, Pearl City, and Shannon, as they filled the stands to watch their team waltz their way into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014.
The Kempel brothers had a day against the Knights defense, as they scored a total of 7 TD's combined. Jayden would get it started with a 26 yard run, then Jarod added a 12 and 14 yard run, to be followed by a Jayden 54 yard run, and with 10:07 left in the first half EPC was up 28-0.
EPC would take a 42-6 lead into halftime after Jarod scored on his 3rd TD of the day, and Braden Smargiassi connected with Jayden on a 26 yard TD pass.
To start the 2nd half, the clock started to roll after Jayden busted off a 60 yard run just 46 seconds into the 3rd quarter en route to a 48-14 win for EPC.
The road gets much tougher now in a daunting 2A bracket, where the final 8 teams have all won, or been to the state semifinals over the past 3 seasons, with exception of Orion, who will be the next contestant for EPC. Orion has been ranked in the top 3 of the 2A poll all season long, but have struggled to victory in their first 2 rounds thus far. It will be a very intriguing contest for both teams, as it sets up the 2nd contest between NUIC and TRAC teams in these playoffs. This game will play be played in Orion on Saturday, with a time to be determined.