Byron brings home second for the second straight year

RANDY STUCKENBERG PHOTO Tempo
Byron assistant coach Sean Considine consoles Carson Wilsie after Byron’s 46-42 loss to Williamsville in the 3A State Championship game in DeKalb on Friday, Nov. 29.

By Doug Schroder
CORRESPONDENT
For the Byron Tigers football team there was no partying like it was 1999 as they succumbed, 46-42, to the Williamsville Bullets in the IHSA 3A title game on Friday, Nov. 29, at Huskies Stadium in Dekalb.
It was Byron’s second straight trip to the Class 3A championship game. Both this years, and last years, teams hoped to replicate what the 1999 team had done in winning a title.
This years Tigers looked like they were going to accomplish that feat when Isaac Stickler ran the ball in from 29-yards out with 4:30 to go in the game. The PAT kick was good and Byron was up by ten points at 42-32.
After the ensuing kickoff the Bullets potent passing attack brought them right back downfield and they scored another touchdown on a long pass bringing the score to 42-39 Byron with 3:30 to play.
The Bullets attempted an on-side kick after that score. Byron’s Parker Eccles recovered the ball on the run and had a wide-open field ahead of him to the end zone. Then the ball somehow slipped out of his grasp and bounced to the turf. It took a lucky bounce though, right back up into his arms, It was a nice recovery, as he was then tackled at the Williamsville 16.
Things were looking great for Byron as they set up with a first-and-ten. Williamsville then did something they hadn’t done all day. They stuffed the Tigers ground game as Stickler was stopped on fourth-and-five.
With 2:35 left in the game Williamsville took over possession at the 11.
Unfortunately for Byron, they could not find a way to stop the Bullets drive, which resulted in a touchdown when QB Conor McCormick connected with Brendon Bishop with 30 seconds to play, giving Williamsville a 46-42 lead.
Without much a passing game on the day, the Tigers could not score, and watched as the seconds ticked away on the season.
When the game ended the two teams had combined for an IHSA record-setting play-off performance of 1,072 yards of total offense. That’s a record for all eight classes of Illinois football. The previous record in a 3A title game was 592 total yards of offense, the overall record had been set in 853 yards in a 5A game
Byron held a huge edge in time-of-possession, keeping the offense on the field for 10 minutes more than Williamsville. The Bullets outgained the Tigers in total yards though at 555-517. The Tigers won the run game, 449-220, but the Bullets commanded the air battle, winning the passing yards 335-68.
Issac Stickler rushed for 264 yards on 28 carries, scoring four Byron touchdowns. His senior backfield counterpart Drake Snodgrass accounted for 163 rushing yards and two Tigers touchdowns.
After the heartbreaking defeat, Byron head coach Jeff Boyer had nothing but praise for his team in the postgame press conference, saying words can’t describe what this group of kids mean to him.
Williamsville finished the season at 14-0, winning the first state championship in the history of their football program.
Byron finished the season at 12-2.