As Rock Island continues its journey through five state-rated teams in the first five weeks of the football season, the Rocks ran into a buzzsaw called the 9th ranked (in Class 7A) Quincy Blue Devils, who turned in a dominating performance in the Western Big 6 opener for both teams, sending visiting Rocky to a 48-7 defeat at Flinn Stadium in Quincy on Friday night. Quincy scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, including all six in the first half. The only defensive stop came at the end of the game, as the Blue Devils never punted.
The Rocks managed only three first downs the entire game. The first one came on a 28-yard pass from QB Jae’Vion Clark-Pugh to WR Elijah Venegas, setting up first-and-goal at the 5 with a minute to play in the first half. But Clark-Pugh was forced out of bounds on a scramble at the 15, and the Rocks settled for a 34-yard field goal try by Jonas Cortez, which was wide left as time expired.
The lone scoring drive was engineered by Clark-Pugh and sophomore WR Evan Ellis, who caught a 34-yard pass down the middle, followed by a 22-yard post pattern for the touchdown with 8:20 left in the game. Ellis was named the Hungry Hobo Rock Island Rocks Player of the Game.
Clark-Pugh finished 13-of-22 passing for 113 yards. Rocks running backs were held to 3 yards on 7 carries. For Quincy, star QB Bradyn Little went 21-of-25 for 317 yards and five TDs. Two were to Jeraius Rice, who also scored twice on the ground. Tykell Hammers, Rico Clay, and Caeden Johannessen also caught TD passes.
The Blue Devils (3-0, 1-0 in WB6 play) visit Moline (2-1, 1-0) next Friday, while Rock Island (0-3) travels to 10th ranked (in 7A) Bradley-Bourbonnais (3-0) in a non-conference contest.
