Boylan and Hononegah set to go at it Friday night in our “Overtime” game of the week

ROCKTON, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — As we head down the stretch of the high school football regular season, it’s one heck of a race on top of the NIC-10. Four teams are separated by only one game. Two of them, Boylan and Hononegah are both 5-1, and they’ll meet Friday night in Rockton in our “Overtime” game of the week.

It’s a great time to be a coach or a player if you are part of those teams vying for the NIC-10 championship.

“We’re kind of where we were hoping to be,” said Hononegah head coach Brian Zimmerman. “We’re right up there fighting for that conference championship, to be quite honest with you that’s what our goals were.”

Boylan head coach John Cacciatore is also feeling good about the position his Titans are in also sitting at 5-1, one game behind first place Belvidere North.

“When you’re reloading, and you have a young, inexperienced team, you’re hoping we can play well enough to crack in the top half of the conference. That’s where we are, so we’re happy to be where we are.”

But as tight as things are, there’s very little margin for error now.

“It’s a little nerve wracking,” admitted Hononegah senior quarterback Dominic Kelly. “We’ve prepared all summer now and all offseason, so we’ve been preparing for these moments and these big games.”

Hononegah has been dominant all season long. The Indians didn’t even flinch after forfeiting their week three win over Harlem for inadvertently using an ineligible player.

“The kids, they didn’t skip a beat,” said Zimmerman. “Ultimately, they came out fired up. I think they’ve been playing really well.”

The Indians’ defense is giving up only seven points per game. The offense’s running game has been pretty much unstoppable led by Kelly and a powerful line.

Why is Dominic Kwelly such a great fit for Hononegah’s offense?

“To be quite honest with you it’s his athleticism,” said Zimmerman. “And in our offseason, he was doing everything he could to get ready learning our offense. He’s got a tireless work ethic.”

“I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential yet,” said Kelly. “Our passing game can still improve. Of course, our rushing can always improve.”

As for the Titans, their only loss so far was to Belvidere North in week four, a game where they fell behind big. Since then, they feel like they’ve made solid improvement.

“We really struggled that night, and so we want to find out where we are at, where we have grown since then,” said Cacciatore.

“We’re definitely headed in the right direction,” said Boylan senior two-way lineman Barron Sholl. “We’re figuring some things out on offense and moving the ball better. The defense is doing their thing and moving along the right way.”

Transfer quarterback Jaden Williams has been seeing more action lately as he’s gained a firmer grasp of the offense after enrolling at Boylan just before the start of the season. He’s looking more comfortable while splitting time will fellow QB Dominic Cacciatore. Coach Cacciatore says it takes any quarterback some time to adjust to a new team and to a new offensive scheme.

“Showing up on our doorstep (just before the season), and then having to give him this football playbook that has all this foreign language, it just takes time to put it all in. There’s a lot that goes into that language.” “So, it just is taking some time.”

Cacciatore always wants his Boylan offenses to be balanced. He believes the Titans are getting there. Last week against Auburn, they rushed for 167 yards and passed for 134 yards.
Now the challenge for the Titans is maintaining that balance and consistency against Hononegah.

“They’re going to be physical,” said Cacciatore. “They’re going to be well-coached.”

“Typically, what we see from Boylan is a very well-coached team, very good athletes,” said Zimmerman. “They’re very comparable to ourselves, so I think that’s why we always have a great matchup with them.”

NOTE: Watch for highlights of this game and many more Friday night on “Overtime” on Fox 39. It will air at 10:30 p.m. right after Fox Network’s coverage of the MLB playoff game between the Padres and the Dodgers. That game begins at 7 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports.