Streator, IL — By J.T. Pedelty October 07, 2023 at 1:20 am CDT Link to original article: https://bit.ly/46hwFqX Under normal circumstances, Peotone running back Jayden Rodriguez diving into the end zone for the go-ahead score to culminate a 15-play, 6:52 drive with 31.5 seconds remaining would have caused pure joy on the Blue Devils’ sideline. Not on this night, not in this game, and not facing Streator quarterback Christian Benning. “I would have been a little happier if we’d scored with maybe, I don’t know, less than 10 seconds left,” Peotone coach Apostolos Tsiamas said. “But we’ll take it.” Peotone survived not one but two Hail Mary passes from Benning batted around in the Blue Devils end zone with time expired to score its fourth win of the season, 36-32 over Streator in Illinois Central Eight Conference play Friday. Benning completed 19 of 30 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns. Most of those were to Matt Williamson, who had a huge game himself with eight receptions for 172 yards and three scores, including a 60-yarder late in the third quarter that gave the Bulldogs the lead they held into the final minute. As unstoppable as the Streator passing game was, Peotone’s running game was more than its equal. The Blue Devils (4-3, 3-2 ICE) rushed for 409 yards, led by Chase Rivera’s 167 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and Rodriguez’s 223 yards and three TDs on 34 carries, the last of those the game-winner. “We were down on that last drive and knew we had to hold the clock a little bit,” Rodriguez said, “play physical and punch it in with a little time left so we could stop them on D. “It feels good. We fought all 48 minutes. We were down, but we kept pushing, didn’t give up, kept the train moving.” Peotone’s clock-chewing, game-flipping drive as time wound down started at its own 16-yard line with 7:23 remaining after the defense held at midfield and forced a Streator (2-5, 1-4) punt. The key play – other than Rodriguez’s 1-yard touchdown that turned a four-point deficit into a two-point lead – was the Blue Devils’ only pass completion of the day, a 14-yard, off-the-shoelaces catch and run on third-and-12 from Ruben Velasco to Rivera. Even with Rodriguez scoring with 31.5 seconds remaining, Streator getting a short kickoff return to its own 22 and the first snap of the desperation drive going over Benning’s head, the Bulldogs and their senior leader made things interesting. A 17-yard pass to Anthony Mohr and a 10-yard Benning scramble put the Bulldogs at their own 49 with time for one shot at the end zone. Benning’s Hail Mary pass bounced around a crowd in the end zone and fell incomplete, but a penalty flag came out, and pass interference was signaled. Now 15 yards closer – in high school, pass interference is not a spot foul as it is in the NFL – Streator tried the Hail Mary again on an untimed down, but it bounced off a receiver’s outstretched hand in traffic and fell harmlessly to the turf. “I’m so glad I’ve never got to see that Benning kid again,” Tsiamas said. “What an unbelievable football player that kid is. He did his thing tonight just like he did against us last year, but props to our kids. In the end, we scored more than they did. It goes down as a win, and we’ll take it.” Peotone outgained its hosts in yards from scrimmage, 423-332. Landen Hamm had a quarterback sack and Rodriguez a fumble recovery for the Peotone defense. Isaiah Brown recorded an interception, and Liam Martin had two tackles for loss for the Bulldogs, who fell just short. “We got two shots at the end zone and just couldn’t come down on the right side of it today,” Streator coach Kyle Tutt said. “We’re coming along, and like I said to the guys, that’s three, four years in the making. You can’t win football games with one offseason or two offseasons. It takes a group of guys to buy in for four, five years, to hit the weight room for four, five years. A lot of these guys have played Peotone down to the final minute for two three years now. “That’s where we’re at. Now we have to learn how to win those games.”