WALWORTH - Brodhead-Juda took a hard hit in its quest for a Rock Valley South conference football championship. The state's No. 1-ranked team, Big Foot, blanked the Cardinals 30-0 Friday.
Big Foot's Mike Walker scored on a 7-yard run with 5 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Walker scored again on a 6-yard run in the second half.
"The hype of the game helped me after being sick all week," Walker said. "One of my linebackers has mononucleosis, and I'm pretty close to him, and I didn't know if I had it.
"This win means a lot. That pretty much shows the rest of the state that we're not a pushover team, and we are who we are."
The two Division 4 powerhouses (Brodhead-Juda is ranked third) held tight through much of the first half, but a 30-yard TD pass from Steven Dowden to Alex McGreevy with 18 seconds left in the second gave the Chiefs a boost.
Big Foot got a safety as time expired in the third quarter, and Dowden and McGreevy connected on a 32-yard pass with 3:54 left for the game's final score.
Brodhead-Juda was held to just 84 yards of offense, including 74 rushing yards. The Cardinals came into the game with three running backs with a combined 1,517 yards rushing this season. Only Ethan Douglas, the team's leading rusher, gained any momentum against the Chiefs. Douglas finished with 70 yards on 19 carries - a 3.7 yards per carry average, six shy of his season average.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again, I still think in a lot of ways they may be a little better than last year," Brodhead-Juda coach Jim Matthys said of Big Foot. The Chiefs were 13-1 and state runners-up last season. "They don't have that one guy, and they really spread the ball around and have a nice game plan."
Big Foot racked up 262 yards of total offense.
"I preach to them (his team) that the last two games, I thought we lost focus a little bit, and I told them that if all our guys are doing their job, we're a pretty formidable team," Big Foot coach Rodney Wedig said.
The Cardinals will try to rebound on Oct. 16 against McFarland.
Big Foot's Mike Walker scored on a 7-yard run with 5 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. Walker scored again on a 6-yard run in the second half.
"The hype of the game helped me after being sick all week," Walker said. "One of my linebackers has mononucleosis, and I'm pretty close to him, and I didn't know if I had it.
"This win means a lot. That pretty much shows the rest of the state that we're not a pushover team, and we are who we are."
The two Division 4 powerhouses (Brodhead-Juda is ranked third) held tight through much of the first half, but a 30-yard TD pass from Steven Dowden to Alex McGreevy with 18 seconds left in the second gave the Chiefs a boost.
Big Foot got a safety as time expired in the third quarter, and Dowden and McGreevy connected on a 32-yard pass with 3:54 left for the game's final score.
Brodhead-Juda was held to just 84 yards of offense, including 74 rushing yards. The Cardinals came into the game with three running backs with a combined 1,517 yards rushing this season. Only Ethan Douglas, the team's leading rusher, gained any momentum against the Chiefs. Douglas finished with 70 yards on 19 carries - a 3.7 yards per carry average, six shy of his season average.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again, I still think in a lot of ways they may be a little better than last year," Brodhead-Juda coach Jim Matthys said of Big Foot. The Chiefs were 13-1 and state runners-up last season. "They don't have that one guy, and they really spread the ball around and have a nice game plan."
Big Foot racked up 262 yards of total offense.
"I preach to them (his team) that the last two games, I thought we lost focus a little bit, and I told them that if all our guys are doing their job, we're a pretty formidable team," Big Foot coach Rodney Wedig said.
The Cardinals will try to rebound on Oct. 16 against McFarland.
