By Fred Kroner
State-ranked Toledo Cumberland took a 40-0 lead into halftime of a Friday (Sept. 24) homecoming game at Villa Grove and went on to a 47-8 triumph.
The Blue Devils got on the board with 7 minutes to play when Liam Barr hooked up with Brady Clodfelder on a 10-yard scoring strike.
Tyler Wilson ran in the two-point conversion.
Barr completed 5 of 16 passes for 27 yards.
Luke Zimmerman (64 yards) and Parker Stevens (39 yards) were the top Villa Grove ground-gainers.
Cumberland, ranked 14th in Class 2A, held a 332-165 edge in total yards.
Defensively, the Blue Devils’ leaders were Clodfelder (seven tackles), Zimmerman (six tackles) and Stevens (five tackles). Robert Fancher and Elijah Kiesel each ended with three tackles.
“We got beat on both sides of the ball,” Villa Grove coach Heath Wilson said. “They pretty much took away everything.
“I’m proud of our kids. They played until the very last minute.”
Wilson said there are some lessons that can be taken from the game.
“It’s kind of a learning process,” Wilson said. “We’ll see if our boys have some grit.
“We have to learn that not everything is easy. This determines where we have to go from here.”
Villa Grove (3-2) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 1) against Sangamon Valley (1-4) in Niantic.
“We have to take care of business this week,” Wilson said.
Tackle Connor Black, who has missed the last two games, is expected back, and Wilson said, “we will ease him back into things.”
