Kaneland dominates from the first snap

Updated: August 27, 2011 2:38AM

MAPLE PARK — Outside of a little stumble, Kaneland standout wide receiver Quinn Buschbacher was off to the races for a first-play touchdown reception, and the Knights were off to a 44-0 romp over Brooks.

With the visiting Eagles deferring to the second half, Kaneland opted to receive for its home opener with Buschbacher returning the opening kickoff to the 33. The talented senior then caught Drew David’s opening pass and raced 67 yards to give the hosts a quick 7-0 lead after Matt Rodriguez booted the extra point.

“After I caught it I almost tripped, but once I got my balance I knew I could score,” Buschbacher said. “You have to give props to (quarterback) Drew. With our offense we’re always capable of putting up many points.”

Kaneland proceeded to prove that point on its next two possessions. Buschbacher capped off the next series with a five-yard sweep to the left pylon leading to a 14-0 lead with 4:49 left in the opening quarter. Once the Knights got the ball back, that drive ended with Buschbacher going four yards around left end for a 21-0 lead.

While David opened the contest connecting on nine consecutive passes before finishing the evening hitting 14-of-20 for 203 yards and a pair of TDs, the sophomore quarterback finally hit a dry patch that resulted in a few possession exchanges. But a 22-yard pass completion to Kyle Pollastrini had the Knights back on the doorstep so that Sean Carter could bull over from two yards out. With a bad snap resulting in an incomplete PAT pass, Kaneland owned a 27-0 led with 5:43 left before intermission.

When Brooks opted to gamble on fourth-and-10 with a reverse snuffed out by the Knights’ Joey Cozzi, the hosts made them pay dearly.

Buschbacher completed a four-touchdown evening breaking away for a 22-yard score with 3:01 left before halftime. Buschbacher finished with 47 rushing yards — the bulk of the Knights’ 86 ground yards — and three TDs off five carries and 64 yards on two receptions.

Worse yet for the Eagles, their next possession began with a fumbled lateral that put them back on their own six-yard line. After a couple incomplete passes, a 31-yard punt gave Kaneland the ball on the Brooks 37. Davis tossed a 22-yarder to Carter for a 41-0 lead with 31 seconds to go, which meant the second half would be played with a running clock. Carter compiled 80 yards on six receptions.

Neither team scored during the third quarter, but the final quarter saw Rodriguez boot a 42-yard field goal as the icing on the cake. When he wasn’t converting PAT kicks, the sophomore was booming kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. Only once out of the three times he failed to reach the end zone was Brooks able to start a possession beyond its own 20. The Eagles came out of the half with a nine-play drive that had them on the Knights’ 9-yard line with third-and-goal, only to see Jacob Razo intercept in the end zone.

“Matt did that pretty much all last year,” Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly said. “So we just keep on expecting it, but we didn’t have a field goal and for him to have a 42-yarder on the first night, I’m really happy for him.

“We came in wanting to be 1-0 so we’re happy with the results. But we did have some turnover problems and (Brooks) moved the ball a little on us here and there. We’ve got young players and wanted to see what we’ve got, so it was good to have everyone play.”

The Knights limited Brooks to 31 yards rushing and the Eagles had a few big plays from junior quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw (9-of-25) for a passing attack of 159 yards.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.