Wheaton North blanks Jacobs in 7A playoffs

Updated: October 29, 2011 12:02AM

Wheaton North made visiting Jacobs pay dearly for a series of breakdowns late in the first half Friday night.

A pair of interceptions thrown by Golden Eagles quarterback Jason Judson led to two Falcons touchdowns in the final two minutes of the second quarter, and Wheaton North rode the wave of momentum to a convincing 28-0 victory at Rexilius Field in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Junior quarterback John Peltz had his way with the Jacobs defense, completing 13-of-19 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a rushing touchdown as the Falcons advance to play the winner of Saturday’s game between Rockford Boylan and Libertyville in the second round.

“Our offensive line gave me time and we just did our thing,” Peltz said.

Trailing 7-0 with five minutes left in the first half, the Golden Eagles were marching down the field for the tying score when Wheaton North’s Luke Sahly picked off a wayward pass by Judson along the sideline near the Falcons’ 10-yard line.

Five plays later Wheaton North (8-2) faced third-and-17 when Peltz hit sophomore Matt Biegalski over the middle for a 79-yard touchdown reception through traffic to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead with 1:54 left in the half.

Disaster struck again for Jacobs (7-3) two plays into its ensuing drive when Wheaton North’s Casey Blair made a diving interception of a low throw by Judson at the Eagles’ 34-yard line. Two plays later Peltz fired into double coverage and senior receiver Johnny Daniels came down with a nifty 18-yard reception in the back left corner of the end zone to make the score 21-0 with 36 seconds left in the half.

“We knocked all the confidence out of them (at the end of the first half) and the momentum just changed to us,” Peltz said.

The surge continued for the Falcons on the opening possession of the third quarter when Peltz hooked up with Daniels for a 28-yard touchdown strike to cap a nine-play, 88-yard drive. Biegalski finished with five catches for 155 yards and Daniels added three catches for 73 yards.

It was a disappointing finish to a solid season for Jacobs, which quickly boarded the bus and departed after the game. The Eagles finished with four turnovers and were outgained 444-178 while being shut out for the first time this season.

Zyks was held to a season-low 27 yards on 11 carries as senior Kyle Wright led the way on the ground for Jacobs with 66 yards on 12 carries.

“We knew (Jacobs) had a lot of talent in their skill positions,” Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said. “(Zyks) is a very good running back and (Wright) runs hard, so we they had potential to make big plays. I thought we tackled pretty well and the kids did a nice job executing what we put in this week.”

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