Knights come up golden again
DeKALB — IC Catholic’s dominance of Class 3A the last two seasons is downright scary. The Knights took care of Pleasant Plains 35- 0 on Friday at Huskie Stadium to repeat as state champions.
Running back Lazerick Eatman ran for 254 yards and four touchdowns. The game was close for a half. The Knightswon the title game 43- 0 against Carlinville last season.
“Lazerick sees the field in a unique way. I think it slows down for him,” IC Catholic coach Bill Krefft said. “He’s one of the only players that has seemed to get faster over the past six weeks.”
Eatman’s longest run was a 56- yarder in the second quarter that got the Knights out of trouble at their own 1- yard line.
“I just knew we couldn’t make a safety,” Eatman said. “I was following [ lineman] Kemon Reese, and he set the edge for me and I tried to get what I could.”
“Blocking for [ Eatman] is a great feeling,” Reese said. “It’s like a sequence. We do our job, and then he makes the plays.”
IC Catholic’s four- year starting quarterback, Luke Ricobene, was injured in Week 2. He was able to come in at the end of the game and down the ball. It was an emotional moment for the Knights’ fans.
“Luke was going into the game because of what he’s done for this program,” Krefft said. “Luke was our leader, everything was built around him. Then suddenly Luke was gone. That day against St. Laurence the stadium was quiet. Our team kinda looked at each other like, ‘ What do we do now?’ The kids just kept digging out of that hole and got above it. That’s how they ended up here.”
Junior Khalil Saunders took over for Ricobene, but after he was injured in Week 5, third- string quarterback CJ West took the reigns, and the Knights ( 13- 1) didn’t miss a beat.
“Our kids overcame an incredible amount of adversity all year,” Krefft said. “Last year was a little smoother sailing. It is just a special group of kids at IC.”
West was 9- for- 11 for 110 yards against Pleasant Plains ( 10- 4). He also handled the punting with five kicks for 235 yards that kept the Cardinals pinned back.
“Momentum in these kinds of games is huge,” Krefft said. “The wind helped us. We were trying to make sure we used it as much as possible.”
This is the fourth state title for IC Catholic, which won Class 2A in 2008 and Class 3A in 2002.