It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Blue Island Eisenhower Cardinals can now relate to. They took a 49-35 bruising from Kankakee on Saturday. Blue Island Eisenhower's loss signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Blue Island Eisenhower had strong showings from Nicholas Mayfield, who threw for 383 yards and five touchdowns, and Avian Abrams, who picked up 285 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Abrams' longest reception was for an incredible 75 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Antonio Russell, who picked up 91 receiving yards and a touchdown.
It was another big night for Tony Phillips, who rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.5 yards per carry. Phillips hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Cedric Terrell, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Kankakee's defensive line stepped up as well, laying out the QB five times. Leading the way was Kennarius Chandler and his three sacks.
Blue Island Eisenhower's defeat dropped their record down to 7-4. As for Kankakee, they pushed their record up to 11-1 with that win, which was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season.
Blue Island Eisenhower does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Kankakee will square off against East St. Louis at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. East St. Louis presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Kankakee in Illinois (East St. Louis is ranked fifth, while Kankakee is ranked 35th).
