La Salle-Peru Stuns Ag Science to Reach Round of 16

The La Salle-Peru Cavaliers defeated No. 2-seeded Chicago Ag Science 40-12 on Friday at Rockne Stadium in Chicago to advance to the round of 16 in the Class 5A playoffs. The win marks the first time since 2003 that the program has reached this stage of the postseason. La Salle-Peru, seeded 15th, improved its record to 6-5 with the victory.

Coach JJ Raffelson described the moment as outstanding for the program, fans, and community. He noted that stacking two playoff wins in a row after 23 years without any moves the team in the right direction. The Cavaliers will face the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 7 TF North and No. 10 Carbondale next weekend.

The first half was rough for the visitors. La Salle-Peru fumbled a handoff, bobbled a snap, and recorded eight negative plays. The team had to punt on its first two drives and fell behind 6-0. However, the Cavaliers managed to take a 7-6 lead into halftime. That lead came from an 18-yard touchdown pass from Grey Ernat to Jackson Myers and a negated score by the Cyclones due to a penalty.

Raffelson acknowledged the team had bumps and bruises early on. He cited the long bus ride and the need to find their groove as factors in the slow start. The coaching staff made adjustments at halftime to change the second half.

La Salle-Peru scored on its first five drives of the second half to take control. The team focused on establishing the run, running the ball on nine of its 10 plays in the opening drive of the third quarter. They capped that drive with a 19-yard touchdown run by Ernat. On Ag Science’s first possession of the second half, the Cavaliers forced a punt.

Shortly after, Ernat connected with Myers on a 79-yard score down the sideline. That play put the Cavaliers ahead 21-6. Jackson Myers said Ernat riled the team up in the huddle, allowing them to execute what was needed to put points on the board.

Ernat added two more rushing touchdowns from distances of 4 and 34 yards. Sam Carter closed the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run with 2:53 left in the game. The Cavaliers rushed for 39 yards on 18 carries in the first half but gained 214 yards on 25 carries in the second half. Carter led the ground game with 116 yards on 12 carries, while Ernat gained 77 yards on five attempts.

In the passing game, Ernat completed 4 of 10 passes for 153 yards. Myers caught three passes for 142 yards. The defense limited the Cyclones to two scores: a 32-yard touchdown pass and a 27-yard touchdown pass. La Salle-Peru held Ag Science to 83 rushing yards on 22 carries and allowed 206 passing yards on 14-of-27 attempts.

Special teams also contributed to the momentum shift. Brandon Lamps blocked a punt, and the team recovered a kickoff that bounced off an Ag Science player. Joey Lightle, who intercepted a pass, said the defense executed well. He noted they locked down the pass game after making adjustments at halftime, specifically having corners play man coverage without linebacker help.