Sloppy Yorkville drops fourth straight game

Updated: October 14, 2011 11:48PM

Technically, the Yorkville Foxes have one more game to try and earn their fifth win of the season and become the first squad since the 2002 to finish the year with a winning record and advance to the postseason.

Technically.

But no one in Yorkville can be feeling good about those prospects against Sycamore after watching a very winnable game slip away due to undisciplined and sloppy play in a 30-13 loss to an injury-riddled DeKalb Barbs team Friday night.

The loss was Yorkville’s fourth straight, and drops it to 0-4 in the Northern Illinois Big 12 East.

“We need to get better in the fundamentals, I guess,” Foxes coach Karl Hoinkes said. “We’re not making the most of our opportunities and we had some pretty costly errors that put us in pretty bad shape.”

The game was decided early, with DeKalb taking a decisive 16-6 lead in the first half, and the Foxes were chasing that deficit the rest of the game.

In the first quarter, the Foxes had just one possession — where two first downs were nullified due to holding calls.

That led to a punt that turned into the Barbs’ first scoring drive of the game, an eight-play, 90-yard march that was aided by a roughing the passer penalty on the Foxes.

Yorkville then fumbled the ball away on the next play, which led to another long, time-consuming drive by the Barbs deep into the second quarter. Fortunately, the Yorkville defense held strong at its own 3 and led to the Foxes’ lone score, a 23-yard pass from Nick Gillette to Ilir Emini.

Things quickly fell apart afterward for Yorkville, as the Foxes kicked the ball out of bounds to allow the Barbs to start the next drive at the 35. The Foxes defense held strong again, forcing a Brad Sisler fumble at their own 1. But, two plays later, Gillette was then swarmed under in his own end zone for a safety. The free kick only went to the Yorkville 46, and the Barbs marched right down in just 29 seconds to score on a 2-yard pass from Sisler to Devonte Ragsdale to make it 16-6.

In a span of 1 minute, 45 seconds the Barbs scored a key nine points.

The extra possessions allowed DeKalb to hold the ball for over 15 minutes of the first half, and in the second the Foxes defense was just gassed, as missed tackles allowed the Barbs to build the lead late.

Penalties plagued the Foxes the entire game — they committed 12 total for 114 yards.

The Barbs weren’t that much better, drawing 11 whistles for 105 yards — but those flags hurt far less than those thrown on the Foxes.

“We just made crucial mistakes,” Yorkville running back Neil O’Brien said. “We had the potential to win. Penalties pretty much killed us and we lost all momentum.”

All is not lost, of course. There is one game to play and there are things to build on off this loss — especially if the Foxes can eliminate the penalties and turnovers. The passing game showed promise, as Gillette went 5-for-13 for 116 yards and two TDs against two interceptions.

Receivers Cody Knudsen (2 catches, 47 yards) and Emini (3 catches, 69 yards, 2 TDs) run crisp, effective combo patterns and are run-after-the-catch threats. Then, of course, there is O’Brien, who rushed 17 times for 122 yards.

The defense, when it had its legs, was aggressive and ball-hawking, forcing four fumbles (though only recovering one) and were frequently in the DeKalb backfield.

These are the things the Foxes need to take away from Friday night, as they’re the things that led to four straight wins. The key now is if they can do those things to get one more.

“If we win, that will most likely put us in the playoffs,” O’Brien said. “It’s the last game for the seniors (potentially), so hopefully that can transfer into more positive energy.”

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