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The Rock Island offense came alive Friday night, but special teams breakdowns helped Dunlap — a team picked by the Peoria Journal Star to go to the Final Four in Class 6A — outscore the Rocks 27-14 in the second half of a 41-31 Eagles win at Rock Island.  Rocks QB Jae’Vion Clark-Pugh was outstanding, throwing touchdown passes of 32 yards to Elijah Venegas, 38 yards to Evan Ellis, and 17 yards to Keyonte Farrow.  He finished with 259 yards passing and was named Hungry Hobo Rock Island Rocks Player of the Game.

The Rocks led 17-14 at the half after Jonas Cortez gave them the lead for the third and final time with a 21-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.  But Dunlap, who had gained excellent field position with long kickoff returns throughout the first half, returned the second half opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and a 20-17 advantage.  Another score midway through the third made it 27-17.

The Rocks answered with an 84-yard interception return by V Jay Garrard to close within 27-24 at the end of the third.  But on the first play of the fourth quarter, Eagles QB John Barger found a wide open Dawson Marmion for a 60-yard TD and a 34-24 lead.  Clark-Pugh’s scoring pass to Farrow came with 8:50 remaining and made it 34-31.  But the Eagles ground out a 10-play, 55-yard drive, capped off with the final TD with just 2:49 to play.

Temar Hudson led the Rocks’ rushing attack with 62 yards on 16 carries.  Leading receivers were Venegas (9 receptions for 86 yards), Ellis (4-62), Farrow (4-58), and Dai’Shaun McCaw (3-40).  Four-star recruit Mack Sutter led the Eagles’ attack with six catches for 121 yards.  The Rocks (0-2) will travel to Quincy to face the 2-0 Blue Devils next Friday night.

It’s Week 2 of the 2024 high school football season! We’re back for our 11th season of exciting, live play-by-play action!
Here are the links for Friday night’s games:

6:00 United Township vs Chicago Muchin Presented by Van Hoe
7:00 Moline at Lisle Benet Academy Presented by Sexton Ford
7:00 Dunlap at Rock Island Presented by Wheelan-Pressly

This is the link to the FULL COURT PRESS live stream.

You can catch the podcast of past episodes here:  Full Court Press Podcasts

This is the place for QCSportsNet’s live, local sports talk show featuring some of the biggest names in the history of Quad Cities sports media.  Our next show is this Wednesday (September 4th) at 7:00 p.m., live from Riverfront Grille in Rock Island
JOINING US LIVE:
* Co-hosts John Marx and Ken Jacoby will disagree about what will happen in the NFL this season
* Our resident podcaster Joe Winkel will join to set us straight
* We’ll review your Bears predictions from our FCP poll

PRESENTED BY charter sponsors Godfather’s Pizza in Silvis, Crawford Company, Neil Ferrari State Farm Insurance, Wheelan-Pressly, and Hungry Hobo.  Limited additional sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting Ken Jacoby at (309) 912-5135 or ken@qcsportsnet.com.

In a see-saw game that saw the teams alternate scoring plays throughout, the United Township Panthers were unable to convert on their final opportunity, a 26-yard field goal try with less than two minutes to play, and fell at LaSalle-Peru 18-16 Friday night, in the season opener for both teams.

Isaiah Navarette had a spectacular performance for the Panthers, running for two long touchdowns and finishing with 198 yards rushing on 23 carries.  He was named Godfather’s Pizza Panthers Player of the Game.

Navarette’s 53-yard score put UT up 7-0 on their opening possession.  The Cavaliers’ Adrian Arzola returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the end zone.  A missed extra point left the Panthers in the lead, 7-6.  Rowan Kallal added a 34-yard field goal late in the first, and the Panthers led 10-6 at the half.

L-P scored late in the third quarter to go up 12-10, with the Panthers stopping a 2-point conversion attempt.  Navarette’s 80-yard scamper reclaimed the lead at 16-12 (after a missed extra point kick) with 0:52 left in the third.  The Panthers had a chance to extend the lead, but lost the ball on a fumble at the Cavaliers’ 41 yard line.  On the next play, freshman QB Marion Persich connected with Arzola on the go-ahead 59-yard TD.  It was a rare offensive outburst for the Cavaliers, who were held to 217 total yards by the Panthers defense.  It was followed by another missed extra point, leaving UT down 18-16.  After an exchange of 3-and-outs, Jasiah Massey gave the Panthers a chance, returning a punt to the L-P 27 yard line.  UT drove down to the 5, ended up at the 9 yard line, but Kallal’s 26-yard attempt was wide left.

The Panthers host Chicago Noble/Muchin on Friday, with an early kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Soule Bowl.  We’ll have the live play-by-play coverage on QCSportsNet.com.

In a high-scoring game with a wild finish, Moline escaped with a 41-40 overtime win over visiting Rockwood Summit (Fenton, MO) Friday night at Browning Field.  Trailing 34-21 with 3 minutes left, Summit scored two late TDs, the second one tying the game with 32 seconds left.  But the Maroons blocked the extra point to send the game to OT.

In the extra period, Summit scored right away but missed the extra point.  Colin Fredrickson ran to the end zone to tie it for the Maroons.  Then kicker Nolan Ducey, who missed two earlier extra points, booted it through the uprights to win the game and become the last-second hero.

Eli Warren led the Maroons’ rushing attack with 136 yards and two scores, and was named the Moline Maroons Godfather’s Player of the Game.  Fredrickson finished with 2 TDs.  QB Elijah Taylor threw for 108 yards and a score.  RB Adrian Cooper had just one carry for 24 yards, but made a key defensive play, returning a fumble for a 4^th quarter touchdown. 

The Maroons visit Benet Academy (who opens its season at Hillcrest on Saturday) next Friday night in Lisle.  We’ll have the live play-by-play on QCSportsNet.com.