Week 4: Du-Pec vs Orangeville
Pecatonica -
In a first time meeting between the Du-Pec Rivermen and Orangeville Broncos, both teams would enter the game at 2-1, but only one could walk away victorious. With Pecatonica celebrating homecoming, the Rivermen were looking to send a packed house home happy.
To start the game, Du-Pec would quickly force Orangeville to go 3 and out, but the Broncos would return the favor. On the Rivermen's first play from scrimmage, Trenton Taylor would get the handoff, and the ball squirted out of his hands right after the exchange, and Orangeville's Zach Baker was able to recover. Starting from the Rivermen 34 yard line, the Broncos would run the ball and get to the Rivermen 13 yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
Both teams would exchange punts on their following possessions, as they kept trying to figure each other out. Entering the 2nd quarter, Du-Pec would go on a drive that began at their own 16 yard line. Getting a big 44 yard run by Taylor, the Rivermen found themselves in Bronco territory. A few plays later, the Bronco defense would stiffen, and stall the Du-Pec offense at the Bronco 13 yard line. The Rivermen called on the foot of junior kicker Tyler Kormoczy, who drilled a 30 yard field goal from the left has to put Du-Pec up 3-0 with 7:59 left in the half.
The Du-Pec lead would hold into the half, as both teams could not move the ball offensively. The Rivermen would open the 2nd half with the ball, and moved quickly down the field. Hunter Hoffman connected with Kelton Gann on back to back post routes, moving the ball 21 yards. Hoffman would come up with a big 15 yard gain to keep the chains moving. Inside the Bronco 20 yard line, Hoffman would hand the ball off to Taylor who would run a draw right up the middle and burst into the endzone. After the extra point kick was good, Du-Pec was up 10-0.
Orangeville would begin their next drive at their own 32 yard line, chew up 8 minutes off the clock, drive deep into Rivermen territory knocking on the door of the goal line, but facing a 4th and goal from the 2 yard line, a bobbled play would result in a 3 yard loss and a turnover on downs.
The Broncos would continue to threaten the Rivermen, as they started 2 of their final 3 possessions in Rivermen territory, and ended one drive on an interception by Tre Stifter at the Du-Pec 2 yard line, but the Rivermen defense would hold as they closed out the game with a 10-0 victory.
Du-Pec improved to 3-1, and will face Galena (0-4) next week in Durand for another homecoming game. Orangeville drops to 2-2, and they will face East Dubuque (2-2) next Saturday in Orangeville.
For the game, Du-Pec gained 212 total yards, and were led by Trenton Taylor who would finish the night with 132 yards rushing on 15 carries and 1 TD. Hunter Hoffman would go 4-9 passing for 49 yards, while Kelton Gann had 2 receptions for 21 yards and Gabe Howard had 1 reception for 21 yards.
Orangeville would finish the night with 220 yards of total offense, led by work horse Garret Rodebaugh, who would have 94 yards rushing on 21 carries. Rodebaugh would also surpass the 3,000 yard mark for his career, moving up the career rushing list. Jake Doyle would go 8-17 passing fro 68 yards and 1 interception.