As the Sycamores and La Salle Peru passed through the handshake line, dozens of signs appeared in the bleachers at Howard Fellows Stadium.
The Spartan faithful cheered loudly as Sycamore players rushed to surround coach Joe Ryan.
Ryan achieved his 200th career win with a 28-13 win over the Cavaliers in Friday’s Interstate 8 Conference game.
“This means a lot,” said Ryan, who compiled a 200-126 (.613) record in 32 seasons with Sycamore, Princeton and Eureka. “We’ve got some really good teams here. We’ve got some really good kids. We’ve had great coaches who have helped us along the way. This is 200 wins on my record, but this includes a lot of People were very involved.”
Sycamore quarterback/defensive back Burke Gaucher was a major contributor to the milestone victory, throwing for two touchdowns and scoring two points.
“It’s very special,” Gaucher said. “He’s been coaching for a long time. It’s really special to see him win that. It’s special to be a part of it.”
The Spartans had to take advantage of limited offensive opportunities and play solid defense to give Ryan their 200th victory.
The Sycamores had only two offensive possessions in the first half, but scored on both.
“We took advantage of the opportunities we were given the way we wanted to,” Ryan said. “We have a lot of speed, so that helps us. If we can get off the top a little bit, we’ll be able to hit some big plays.”
After LP fell behind for 4 minutes and 15 seconds on its opening drive, the Spartans took over at the LP 15 and took five plays to score when Gaucher connected with Kyle Previl for a 56-yard score. .
The Cavs took another 5:02 on their second drive, which ended in a punt attempt, but a low snap gave the Spartans the ball at their own 49, and Gatcher scored on a 1-yard sneak.
“We knew they were going to have the ball a lot, but our defense shut it down, so we just stayed true and got it done,” Goucher said. “With the type of receivers we have, we just took advantage of them. They’re running the right routes. We had some good blocks and were able to get things done.”
LP then did not score until 7:03 left in the first half, with the Spartans leading 14-0 heading into halftime.
The Cavs had 29 plays and 16:26 of possession in the first half, while the Sycamores had 13 plays and 7:34 of possession.
“We were trying to keep them off the field as much as possible,” LP coach Jose Medina said. “We know they can score quickly. We were moving the ball offensively, but we couldn’t finish. We thought we played great, but we made another small mistake, a costly mistake. It delayed us.”
The Spartans extended their lead to 21-0 on the first drive of the second half when Gaucher found Aidan Wizard running down the sideline.
Wizards caught the pass, solidly attacked an LP defender near the 7-yard line, and dragged it into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown.
Gaucher hit a 2-yard TD plan with 8:12 left to make it 28-0.
“We allowed some big plays, but we kept fighting and kept fighting,” Medina said. “We let them do their job and that’s what we wanted to do, but they still got some points.”
Marion Persich hit Landon Zellers for an 18-yard TD with 2:42 left in the game, ending a long scoreless drought against the Spartans, who had shutout the Cavs in their previous four meetings.
LP’s second touchdown came when Regan Kellett returned an interception 28 yards against Sycamore reserves for a score with 55.3 seconds left.
The Spartans held LP to 76 rushing yards, but Persich completed 16 of 23 for 153 yards and a TD.
“They had some big plays over the top, like a coverage that flew and the quarterback scrambled and hit a play over the top. We didn’t give up on that,” Ryan said. spoke. “They picked up some third-down conversions, but we let them really work and that’s usually what we try to do.”
The Sycamores (7-0, 4-0 I8) will look to win the conference title next week at home against Morris (5-2, 3-1), while LP (3-4, 1 (3 wins, 3 losses) will face Kaneland (4 wins, 4 losses). -3, 1-3).
“We’re excited,” said Goucher, who completed 9 of 11 for 238 yards and two scores. “It’s going to be a good, tough game. We’re happy to be playing at home. We’re just looking forward to it.”
