Indians Hold Ground and Stay One Game Back

By Chris Johnson, REPORTER

The Hononegah Indians battle for the NIC-10 Title remains alive, courtesy of a 35-27 win over the Belvidere Bucs on Friday night, Sept 23. With that win, Hononegah moved to 4-1 for the season and remain one game out of first place, behind Rockford Boylan. The Titans took down the Vikings on Friday, 34-6 to move to 5-0 for the year. In Rockton on Friday night, the Indians held back Belvidere quarterback Austin Revolinski long enough to help move forward with the one score win. The offense was supported by Christian Fausel’s efforts as he picked up nearly 175 yards rushing on the night. He also scored three times for the victorious Indians. It was a must win game for Hononegah. All games going forward, with any thought of a conference title, must be viewed that way. Any loss from this point on, based on statistical support, will effectively end the hunt for the NIC-10 Crown for Hononegah. Having two losses on the schedule and a direct head-to-head loss to the front running Titans would make a final charge at the NIC-10 Title nearly impossible. A lot of things have to go wrong for Boylan before that could happen. The three, second place Gladiators have another problem. They have to battle each other. In the end, there may be only Boylan standing, perhaps with a two game lead on the field. Hononegah is tied with Harlem and this Friday night’s opponent Auburn with the one loss record. The Indians have a showdown scheduled with Harlem in Rockton on Oct. 14. Hononegah hosts Auburn this Friday, Sept. 30. The Knights beat Jefferson 35-7 in week five. At the end of the night, the theory goes into play. Someone will have picked up their second loss and have already lost to Boylan. Even a tie won’t help in the long run, if Boylan rolls. Harlem is in a similar situation. If the Huskies lose this week, as they host Revolinski and the Belvidere Bucs, there will be just one team standing, chasing, with three games to go. Auburn has to face both Harlem and Hononegah over the next four weeks as well. This is the problem facing the NIC-10 Conference. Boylan has to lose before anything matters. Looking at the schedule for the final four weeks of the regular season, it isn’t clear how that loss could be caused. Boylan’s schedule, statistically, eases, beginning this Friday night against one win Freeport. Over the final third of the season, the Titans take on one win Rockford East in week seven and then face the 2-3, J-Hawks at Jefferson High School in week eight. Belvidere North, currently carrying a mark of 1-4, is the Titans final opponent of the regular season. This Friday night there will be headaches for the Boylan defense. Talented Freeport quarterback Deion McShane has only recently been highlighting his abilities piloting the newly-focused offense. He is fast and shifty, as explained. He has good vision on the field, has also been reported. If the Titans can’t handle McShane, perhaps there is the break the NIC-10 needs. Soon, Indians’ fans may have to look at Jefferson in the week eight game as the last hope to defeat the Titans. Purple and gold sometimes don’t go well with red, except in the NIC-10. Jefferson, though, does trim in gold.