Sycamore's defense turns tide past Belvidere

BELVIDERE: A tipped pass late in the second quarter broke open a game that had no defensive stops to that point, and ninth-seeded Sycamore pulled away from eighth-seeded Belvidere 42-20 in a Class 5A first round game Friday.

Trailing 21-14, Belvidere took over on its own 30. Belvidere quarterback Jackson Sternquist's throw was tipped at the line by Dylan Curtis, and Sycamore's Jackson MacDonald intercepted the ball and returned it to the 28. Caden Ralph ran untouched through the middle of the line on the next play to make it 28-14 with 3:42 left before halftime.

MacDonald, who tore his meniscus two years ago and skipped football last year, returned this season. He also plays baseball for Sycamore. "This is amazing. I get a little emotional talking about this team because I wasn't really thinking about coming out," MacDonald said. "And I am just blessed that I did."

Sycamore added another score before the break. On fourth-and-1, defensive back Alex VanMastrigt stopped Belvidere's Nick Alvarez for no gain to give the Spartans the ball back. Quarterback Chaz Wright then found Ben Anderson for a 29-yard touchdown, and Sycamore led 35-14 with 1:14 left in the half. The Spartans put up 21 points across 2:42 of game time.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Belvidere (6-4) struck early in the fourth, and Sycamore (7-4) answered with a sustained drive that ended on Curtis' third touchdown. Curtis finished with 176 yards on 29 carries. Ralph added 96 yards on seven carries with a touchdown. Wright was 3-for-5 for 58 yards and two touchdowns, with all three catches going to Anderson. Sycamore totaled 335 yards of offense.

Alvarez carried 23 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns for Belvidere. The Bucs gained 142 yards in the first half and 100 in the second, 42 of those on an Alvarez scoring run. Beasley opened the scoring for Belvidere with a 70-yard touchdown on the third play of the game.

Sycamore coach Rob Stover pointed to the interception and Anderson's catch as the turning point. "Ben going and getting that 50-50 Chaz threw there really, really changed momentum there," Stover said. "We were kind of riding that wave there through the rest of the game."

The Spartans travel to top-seeded Antioch (10-0) in the second round. Antioch advanced with a 48-13 win over Glenbard South.