Stillman Valley too much for Plano

Updated: October 29, 2011 10:12PM

All week long, Plano’s football team talked about needing a big play to break open its first-round Class 4A playoff game against Stillman Valley.

On the second play of the second quarter, it looked like the Reapers got just what they were looking for.

Stillman Valley quarterback Jeff Cialkowski coughed the ball up and Northwestern-bound Plano senior Joseph Jones scooped it up and raced 47 yards for a touchdown, giving the Reapers a 10-0 lead.

“We were like, ‘All right, that’s it. Let’s go,’” Jones said.

Unfortunately for Jones and the Reapers, that was the last time Plano would score all night.

Stillman Valley ended the game in dominating fashion, scoring 35 unanswered points to hang a 35-10 loss on Plano Saturday. The Cardinals, who moved up to Class 4A this season after winning the Class 3A state championship in 2009 and finishing second last year, move on to face another team that beat Plano this season, Coal City, in the second round.

“When (Jones) scooped and scored and we got a 10-point lead, knowing the type of offense they run (the triple option) and knowing that we had stopped it a couple of times there, we felt pretty good,” Plano coach Jim Green said. “I thought we had a chance to go up 17-0. I really thought that was going to be it, that we could have almost put that baby away and put them in a situation that they didn’t want, having to throw.”

That never materialized, however. Cialkowski attempted only one pass all night. Stillman Valley rushed a whopping 69 times as a team, winding up with 363 yards. Bot Eric Boettcher (109 yards) and Bryce Dixon (104) went over 100 yards and Jake Wold ran for three touchdowns, all of five yards or less.

“They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect,” Green said. “We just didn’t stop it. They were better at running what they run than we were stopping what we knew they were going to do. That’s just unfortunate for us and good for them.”

After Jones’ dramatic fumble return that got the crowd into a frenzy, the Cardinals calmly marched 68 yards on eight carries, capped by a two-yard run from Wold, on the next drive that halted the momentum. Another lengthy drive in the second, a 12-play, 71-yard drive capped by a five-yard touchdown run from Dixon, pushed Stillman’s lead to 14-10 and the Cardinals never looked back.

“I was worried on that scoop and score,” Stillman Valley coach Mike Lalor said. “That’s a huge momentum changer. Usually you don’t bounce back from those kinds of things. When we answered that, I thought that was the key to the game.”

Jones could never get untracked offensively. He bobbled a potential touchdown catch on the Reapers’ first drive, which resulted in a 25-yard Moises Villa field goal. He didn’t have a carry in the first half, but his seven second-half totes resulted in only 14 yards. He caught two passes for 25 yards, as well.

“He couldn’t get into the open and show his speed,” Green said. “You have to give them credit for doing that.”

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