Rock Island won’t be in the football playoffs this year, but the Rocks have knocked two teams out of the post season picture, first United Township, now Sterling, with Friday’s 14-7 win on the rainy turf of Almquist Field.  

The Rocks (2-6, 2-3 in WB6 play) combined a staunch defense with Garr Tarr’s explosive running for their second victory in the last three contests.  V-Jay Garrard recovered a Sterling fumble and intercepted a Drew Nettleton pass, and the Rocks had a short field after a long snap went over the Golden Warrior punter’s head, all in the 1st quarter, but Rocky wasn’t able to convert those takeaways into points.  But midway through the 2nd, they got consecutive runs of 47 and 26 yards from Tarr to take a 7-0 lead with 6:15 left in the half.  Sterling then mounted its only sustained drive of the game, a 17-play, 66-yard marathon capped off by backup QB Joseph Holcomb’s 1-yard run on 4th and goal for a 7-7 tie with 15 seconds left before the break.

On the Rocks’ first possession of the second half, Tarr took over again, with consecutive runs of 33, 26, and 13 yards for his second touchdown.  Tarr finished with a career-high 225 rushing yards and a 20-yard pass reception, and was named Hungry Hobo Rock Island Rocks Player of the Game.  The defense did the rest, holding Sterling to just 63 yards of offense in the 2nd half.  Particularly stellar was the pass defense, with a rush that harassed QB Drew Nettleton all night, and limited him to just 51 yards in the air, on the heels of a 4 TD pass performance the previous week against Quincy.

Rock Island wraps up its season next Friday at playoff-bound Geneseo (6-2, 3-2).

Moline ran roughshod over Galesburg on Friday, with the Maroons’ 41-10 victory keeping their narrow path to the playoffs open, and setting up next Friday’s season finale at Sterling with a chance to earn their fifth win and become eligible for post season play. 

RBs Corbin Schnell (278 yards, 2 TDs, Godfather’s Pizza Moline Maroons Player of the Game) and Pablo Perez (108 yards, 3 TDs) combined for almost 400 yards.  With the Maroons up 20-3 at the half, Schnell ran 65 yards for a score on the first play of the 3rd quarter to cement their dominance with a 27-3 lead.  (Listen to Grant Dahlstrom’s play-by-play call here.)  QB Elijah Taylor later added a 24-yard touchdown pass to WR Zander Ealy.

Moline (4-4, 2-3 in WB6) plays at Sterling (3-5, 3-2) next Friday.  The Maroons would be playoff eligible at 5-4 but have a relatively low total of opponents’ wins (the main tiebreaker).  They are hoping most of the other 4-4 teams lose their season finale, moving them up the ladder.

In Week 8 this Friday night, Moline (3-4) looks to bounce back from last week’s upset at United Township to stay on track for a possible playoff berth when the Maroons take on Galesburg. Meantime, Rock Island could knock Sterling (3-4) out of the playoff picture if the Rocks can upend the Golden Warriors. UT has the week off.
Follow the hyperlinks for your favorite team’s live stream:

6:45 p.m. Galesburg at Moline Presented by Sexton Ford
7:15 p.m. Sterling at Rock Island Presented by Wheelan-Pressly

*ALL GAMES ON QCSportsNet.com*
*Crawford Company Pre-Game Show 15 minutes before kickoff*

WEEK 1
Fri 8/25
Rock Island 7 at Minooka 41
LaSalle Peru 34 at United Township 14
Moline 17 at (Carol Stream) Glenbard North 12

WEEK 2
Fri 9/1
Benet Academy 38 at Moline 7
Rock Island 7 at Dunlap 21
Sat 9/2
Chicago Muchin Prep 6 at United Township 60

WEEK 3
Fri 9/8
Geneseo 24 at Moline 21
Quincy 41 at Rock Island 7
Sterling 23 at United Township 19

WEEK 4                
Fri 9/15
Moline 27 at Quincy 34
Sterling Newman 22 at Rock Island 20 (OT)
United Township 21 at Geneseo 55

WEEK 5                
Fri 9/22                
Rock Island 10 at Moline 28
Quincy 63 at United Township 27

WEEK 6                
Fri 9/29                
United Township 14 at Rock Island 24
Moline – Forfeit win vs Alleman

WEEK 7                
Fri 10/6                
Moline 28 at United Township 42
Rock Island 7 at Galesburg 24

WEEK 8                
Fri 10/13             
7:00        Galesburg at Moline
7:00        Sterling at Rock Island
Bye         United Township

WEEK 9                
Fri 10/20             
7:00        Moline at Sterling
7:00        Rock Island at Geneseo
7:00        United Township at Galesburg

United Township scored early and often, and damaged Moline’s playoff hopes with a 42-28 victory over the Maroons, Friday night at the Soule Bowl in East Moline.  After jumping out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter, the Panthers and Maroons traded TDs the rest of the way, but always with UT up by one or two scores.  Panthers QB Matthew Kelley ran for two TDs and threw for two.  But after UT stopped Moline deep in Panthers territory late in the 4th quarter to preserve a 35-28 lead, it was Korey Randle’s dramatic 52-yard TD run with 2:10 remaining that sealed the upset win for UT (3-5, 1-4 in WB6).

Kelley was a monster for UT, running for 195 and passing for 101 more.  Moline RB Pablo Perez ran for all four of the Maroons TDs.

The loss by the Maroons (3-4, 1-3 in WB6) sets up a scenario where, if Moline beats Galesburg and Sterling defeats Rock Island next week, Moline at 4-4 would visit Sterling, also at 4-4, with the winner likely making the playoffs, while the loser would be eliminated from post season consideration.  UT is off next week before finishing vs. Galesburg on Oct. 20.