WHEATON — The Belvidere North players held up their helmets to their fans after their game, and the crowd cheered loudly.
It didn’t matter that North lost the game by 35 points. North fans knew that this team was special because it was the first North football team to qualify for the playoffs.
But for now, the first playoff win will have to wait.
Wheaton St. Francis breezed past North in the first-round Class 5A playoff game with a 49-14 running-clock win Saturday. North ends its season 5-5 after finishing 3-6 in its inaugural season in 2007.
ROCKTON — If Harlem and Boylan were the big Broadway act Friday, the off-Broadway production at Hononegah turned out to be a pretty good show in its own right.
The Indians (7-2) held off Belvidere North 27-20 to claim third place outright in the NIC-10.
“This was just a good high school football game by two teams,” Blue Thunder coach Curt Tobin said.
Brett McWilliams had two touchdowns and 217 yards rushing in helping Hononegah to a 27-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
“Brett had an amazing game — what a workhorse,” Hononegah lineman Zach Johnson said.
ROCKFORD — Belvidere North coach Curt Tobin knows the importance of Corey Wennmacher to the Blue Thunder offense.
“As Corey goes, we go,” Tobin said of his senior quarterback.
On Friday night, Wennmacher got the Blue Thunder going on the game’s opening play, returning the kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.
He also threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns as Belvidere rolled to a 63-26 victory. The points output was the most in the two-year history of the school.
Wennmacher was far from satisfied.
ROCKFORD - Belvidere North wants to know what all the fuss about playing at Boylan is about.
In their first ever game at Titans Stadium, the Blue Thunder threatened to upset the conference powerhouse on its home turf Friday.
“I think other teams come in here thinking they’re already beat a lot of times,” North quarterback Corey Wennmacher said after his team’s 21-13 loss at Boylan. “But we didn’t.”
BELVIDERE — Belvidere North slowly chipped away at East on Friday, eventually cruising to a 28-6 win in its last home game at Funderburg Stadium.
BELVIDERE — Some teams might worry if their starting quarterback was out with an injury. Not Belvidere North.
With Keith Larson unavailable because of a leg injury suffered last week in a loss to Harlem, the Blue Thunder turned to Corey Wennmacher, the starting quarterback last season. Before Larson's injury, the plan was for Wennmacher to play more wide receiver and free safety this year.
BELVIDERE – What a difference 12 months make.
A year ago at this time, Belvidere North was kicking off its inaugural campaign. The Blue Thunder had to scramble to get ready for the season: There was no offseason program and coach Curt Tobin wasn’t hired until August.
And yet North was respectable, finishing 3-6 with wins against Machesney Park Harlem (a forfeit because of a Harlem teachers’ strike), East and Jefferson. They also lost to Auburn 20-19 in OT.
