11/16/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - For the first time since 1996 a Black Diamond Conference football team has won three consecutive football playoff games.

The undefeated 12-0 Johnston City Indians and head coach Todd Thomas have accomplished the feat with a simple philosophy.

Run the football.

The Indians have rushed for 4,102 yards on the season on 598 attempts.

Similar to a overpowering fast ball hurler in baseball, the Tribe line up and dare you to try and stop them.

Senior running back Isiah Watson has led the powerful running attack with 1,488 of those yards with 29 touchdowns on ground this season.

That TD number is exactly half of the team total (58) for the season.

Johnston City's 12-0 beginning is the best in the school's long history and it is their first ever Final Four appearance.

They have five ball carriers this season that have 300 + yards or more on the ground.

Senior Boston Peyton is second on the team with 628 yards on 72 attempts.

Sophomore running back Nolan Causey has helped the Indians' cause with 398 rushing yards on 56 runs.

Freshman Jace Weaver (381) and senior Kaden Dover (340) add more options for Coach Thomas.

Quarterback Connor Mowery, a 6-0, 185 senior, rushed for 187 yards this season but he spent most of the season calling the running plays for the Indians' offense.

He has thrown sparingly this season, connecting on 13-of-20 throws for 359 yards and eight TD's for JC.

His top target has been 6-4, 195 junior wide out Keaton Fort, who has four of the receptions for 132 yards and three of the eight touchdowns.

Causey caught two of the scores while Dover, senior Brock Baker and sophomore Cannon Ashmore each hauled in a TD pass from Mowery.

Coach Thomas' club have dominated the 12 opponents in scoring (498-181) while averaging 41.5 points a game 341.8 yards on the ground per outing.

Those are impressive numbers for any level.

The Tribe only played two close games; a 37-28 victory over Carmi-White County back on October 14 and a 33-28 win over Sesser-Valier/Waltonville on October 7.
The playoffs proved to be a good draw as they bested Black Diamond Conference foe Flora for the second time in the season, 36-20 in the opening round and then they took care of Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 28-8, a game in which the Indians took advantage of the weather elements and an injury to the Knights' top player on the first play of the game in a 28-8 dominant performance.

Last Saturday's victory over Belleville Althoff, a team that plays against much larger teams in the South Seven Conference, was a come-from-behind 42-32 win in front of a large home crowd that pushed Johnston City into the semifinals.
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The opposition on Saturday on the road is #1 seed and top-ranked 2A Decatur St. Teresa.

While Johnston City is a new comer when it comes to football playoff runs, the Bulldogs are regulars when it comes to long postseason stays.

Mark Ramsey is in his sixth season as head coach and is 68-8 overall.

His club was literally seconds away from a state championship game appearance last season, only to lose on the road at Nashville 37-35 in the semifinals on a last second field goal.

Like 2021, the Bulldogs enter the semifinals 12-0 again and would like to get back to the title game for the first time since going 12-2 with a title game loss to Forreston 35-7 in the 1A championship in November of 2016.

St. Teresa has made 33 playoff appearances, including three state championships in 1974, 1975 and 1979 and have been second twice (1986, 2016).

The Bulldogs overall playoff record is 54-29 while Johnston City is just 16-25.

As for this season St. Teresa has controlled teams.

Coach Ramsey led his club to a 9-0 regular season mark, including a 54-0 win in Week Two over Belleville Althoff.

They also topped 5A playoff qualifier Effingham.

The Bulldogs went 7-0 to win the Central Illinois Conference with wins over playoff teams 1A Shelbyville, 1A quarterfinalist Tuscola and 1A Central A&M.

To get to the semifinals, St. T topped Chester 49-0, Athens 59-33 on the road and #4 seed Pana 37-12 as they shutdown the high scoring Panthers' attack in a complete game victory.

Six-one, 185 senior quarterback Joe Brummer has thrown 20 touchdown passes this season and is 87-of-135 overall with 1,546 yards in the air.

But the top 'go-to' guy on the Bulldogs' offense is 6-2, 190 running back and middle linebacker Royce Harper.

Harper has 1,322 yards on 119 rushing attempts and 16 of the St. T TD's.

Running back sophomore Jaccarion Jones has 696 yards on 96 attempts for the Bulldogs.

He rushed for four of his 12 TD's this season last week in the Pana game with 29 carries for 152 yards in the quarterfinal romp.

Senior Jeremy Walker has multi purpose contributions with 219 yards on 14 attempts for four touchdowns on the ground while catching 21 of the Brummer passes for 559 yards and eight TD's.

Three other Bulldogs have double-digit receptions from the senior QB.

Senior Matt Brummer (18 receptions, 254 yards, two TD's), senior Brycen Hendrix (15 receptions, 216 yards, three touchdowns) senior Billy Guyse (14 receptions, 244 yards, four TD's) all are outside threats for the unbeaten club.

As a whole, Decatur St. Teresa has nearly 5K yards in total offense from scrimmage in 12 wins.

The game time is set for 3:00 pm this Saturday at Boehm-Davis-Munn Field on the St. Teresa campus.

The winner with play the winner of the other semifinal game between 12-0 and top-seed in the Northern bracket Maroa-Forsyth and #6 seed Downs Tri-Valley on Friday, November 25 at the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium.