11/01/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
OLNEY - One of the things you don't want to happen in a first round high school football playoff game is for your team to fall behind early.

That's exactly what happened on Saturday for the #1 seed Richland County Tigers.

Unheralded and #16 seed Jacksonville jumped out to a big lead in the first half and then managed to make a great defensive play with 1:10 remaining to hold off the host's rally for a 41-39 upset.

The victory puts Jacksonville, and head coach Mark Grounds, on the road at Cahokia next week while Richland County saw their dream season end with a nightmare home loss to end up 9-1.

The splendid season and career of Tigers' senior quarterback Gavyn Cothern came to a sudden halt Saturday night and the final pass of his prep career is one he'd like to have back.

Driving for the potential game-winning score, Cothern was picked off by Jacksonville sophomore defensive back Jeremiah Jackson with 1:10 remaining in the game.

Although a penalty on the interception nullified a long return, Richland County couldn't stop the clock as the Crimson took a pair of kneel downs to end the contest.

Jacksonville, behind 420-yards on the ground, punished the Tigers' defense with the output overshadowing Cothern, who threw for 308-yards on 16-of-23 attempts, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions.

Cothern also ran for four touchdowns as he finished his brilliant season with over 3,200-yards of total offense.

Jacksonville senior quarterback Braden Hutchison only threw one pass in the game, and it was good for 40-yards to Jackson to set up a short touchdown run to make it 41-26 with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Running back Darren Henry had some interesting numbers for the Crimsons.

The 5-9 sophomore ran 11-times for 111-yards and a touchdown.

Four different running backs scored touchdowns and Hutchison added two short runs for 6-4 Jacksonville.

It rounded out to an 8.2 yards per carry average for the game for the team and Coach Mark Grounds gives credit to his young offensive line.

“I think the biggest thing was we started out playing the game with tempo, which got them off the ball quick,” said Coach Grounds about his offensive line. “We start three sophomores and two juniors. We give up a lot of weight (differential) to everyone we face but they're really good at getting to the second level quick. That was the game plan.”

Of the 16 completions by Cothern, senior wide receiver Ian Pianfetti caught five of them for 93 of the yards, including a 43-yard catch and run to set up the final Richland County TD.

But the biggest number of the game for the Tigers was five.

The first five times Jacksonville possessed the ball, they scored touchdowns.

The opening drive began at their own 19 and it lasted eight plays.

Senior running back Easton Ackerman got loose for a 31-yard run to get the Crimsons into Richland County territory.

He romped the final 22-yards two plays later for a 7-0 lead with less than three minutes gone.

Jacksonville's second possession after a Tigers' punt turned into a 63-yard drive using the same strategy.

Five plays after crossing the 50, Jackson took a counter hand off and sprinted past the Richland County defense down the left sideline for a 45-yard score.

Another PAT kick by senior Joe Reif made it 14-0 with 2:19 left in front of a stunned home crowd.

The Tigers got a big play from Pianfetti on the next possession, as he took a direct snap, faked a hand off to Cothern and ran down the right sideline before cutting back for a 69-yard TD.

Coming out with a spread out set up for the PAT, Cothern took a snap and never made it to the endzone as Richland County still trailed 14-6.

Jacksonville would score three more times before the half.

Jackson scored his second TD, showing his speed by taking a hand off and going 53-yards to paydirt.

The PAT kick pushed the score to 21-6 with 11:24 remaining in the second quarter.

As if the first half wasn't going bad enough for Coach Luke Carmody's club, disaster struck the next time the Tigers got the ball.

Cothern threw a long pass down the middle that was intercepted by senior defensive back Dashawn Armstrong and returned to the Tigers 30.

Six plays later, senior back Easton Ackerman went the final six-yards of the five play drive to the endzone.

Although the PAT kick was blocked, Richland County was in trouble at 27-6 with still 7:57 left in the first half.

(CONTINUED)

Cothern found Pianfetti open across the middle of the field in long pass on just the fourth snap of their next possession.

The senior reciever made a couple of nice moves to break free before outracing the defense to finish a 57-yard touchdown.

Although the PAT pass failed, the Tigers had some hope at 27-12.

Richland County needed a stop before halftime but they couldn't get one.

Jacksonville picked up three first downs on its next scoring march.

A 17-yard run by Carlito Mitchell, a freshman running back, closed the scoring for the first half at 34-12.

Many teams would have went to the locker room and mailed in the second half but Coach Carmody's team did no such thing.

Getting the second half kick, Richland County drove down the field and scored on a 12-yard touchdown run by Cothern.

Although the PAT pass failed, the Tigers trailed by just 16.

Then the break that Richland County needed materialized.

Jacksonville turned the ball over on a fumble by Mitchell that was recovered by Tigers' defensive back Owen Cycholl on the Crimsons' 23-yard line.

A completed pass from Cothern to junior Cooper Hires made it first and goal inside the 10.

Cothern scored on a four-yard TD and his pass to receiver Reid Klingler added the two-point conversion and a 34-26 score with 2:58 left in the third quarter.

Jacksonville looked to extend its lead with it next chance.

With a fourth-and-four on the Tigers' 41, Hutchins threw his only pass of the game.

The deep throw down the middle of the field found Jackson open.

The sophomore was finally brought down at the one-yard line.

Hutchins scored on the next snap and another PAT gave Jacksonville back its two-score lead.

Richland County scored on its next drive with Cothern completing a pair of passes to tight end Reid Brown and again to Pianfetti.

Cothern ran the final 27-yard for a touchdown.

After a penalty on the two-point conversion play, Tigers kicker senior Owen Kocher drilled home a long PAT kick.

The best case scenario happened for Richland County on the kickoff.

Kocher kicked the ball into a Jacksonville player and the ball bounced towards the sidelines where Hires recovered the ball at the Jacksonville 45.

Cothern found Pianfetti down the right sideline with a pass that turned into a 43-yard gain to the Crimsons' two.

Cothern finished the drive with a run into the endzone with 7:02 left.

With a chance to tie the game, Cothern threw a pass into the endzone that fell incomplete.

“You can't keep that quarterback and that receiver at bay for four quarters. Nobody has been able to do it for two years, really,” said Coach Grounds about Cothern and Pianfetti. “I said coming in that if you get them the ball in open spaces that they're electric.”

It looked like Jacksonville would finish off the game with a final drive.

The Crimson moved the ball into Tigers' territory but they handed the home team a gift wrapped in a bow.

Instead of trying a field goal on a fourth-and-nine at the 29, Jacksonville tried a trick play.

Jackson tried a halfback pass but Pianfetti intercepted the throw and returned it to the Jacksonville 45 with 3:23 left.

Richland County had time to work the ball down the field and Cothern ran three times to get to the Crimsons' 29.

However on the final offensive play of the season for the Tigers, Cothern threw the ball to the right sideline only to see Jackson make a leaping interception that sealed the first round win for Jacksonville.

“He (Jackson) is the only two-way starter I've had as a freshman and he started for me last year,” said Coach Grounds. “There were many times this year I thought he was the best player on the field. He proved today that he is definitely in that conversation.”

The Crimson and head coach Mark Grounds will face a Cahokia team that beat Centralia last Saturday on the road.

“The third quarter Olney showed that they're champions. They got back into a game. They were down. They didn't hang their heads. They came out, forced a turnover and scored,” said Coach Grounds. “We were fortunate that our kids made two more plays than they did.”