DUNLAP — Mack Sutter can add a playoff victory to his ever-growing football resume.
The Alabama commit helped Dunlap snap a seven-game Illinois High School Association football playoff losing streak with a 49-21 Class 6A first-round win over Pekin on Friday night. Dunlap (8-2) advances to the second round, awaiting the winner of Quincy (5-4) and Crete-Monee (7-2), who play at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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“This was the goal,” Sutter said of Dunlap’s first playoff victory since a 2017 Class 5A semifinal one. “Get past round one. We weren’t planning on losing this one.”
IHSA football playoffs first-round: Live updates | Peoria-area scores | Statewide scores
Sutter, the 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior tight end, was part of the last two postseason defeats, both by one point. He and his teammates were properly prepped for Week 10.
“We kind of all expected (to win),” he said. “We’ve been working this hard from Day 1. … We had high expectations, and we lived up to that and pushed through it. I’m very proud of my team and all the guys around me.”
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His 7-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Truman Tyra put the Eagles up 28-14 with 2:38 left in the half.
On the ensuing series, he then put pressure on Pekin quarterback Brogan Benassi, who got picked off by Blake Dietz. Dietz, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior running back/linebacker, is a tough two-way player, adding 11 carries for 49 yards and the game’s final TD.
“Unbelievable play,” Dunlap coach Brett Cazalet said of Dietz’s interception. “He’s a really good pass-coverage linebacker. He’s so good. … because of his skill at defending the pass, we moved him out there this year to the outside and he’s done a great job for us.”
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The Dunlap run game also took the pressure off its defense. The Eagles rushed for 317 yards on 44 carries, paced by Tyra (109 yards), Jayden Schmick (99 yards, three TDs), Dietz and Joey Joseph.
Schmick’s trio of scores were from 37 yards in the first quarter and two in the third quarter behind the offensive line of left tackle Colton Barlow, left guard Kingston Smith, center Carson Saul, right guard Colin Bruce, right tackle Landon Dillavou and Sutter.
“We’ve improved so much,” Schmick said, “and of course, it’s showing on the field with over 300 yards. They’re doing great out there, and I love them.”
Pekin (5-5), which lost in Week 3 to Dunlap by one point in overtime, kept itself in the game early in the second quarter. Benassi put together four incredible plays — a 39-yard scramble on third down, an 11-yard TD pass to Bray Kormah (six catches for 90 yards, two TDs), a 45-yard pass off a double reverse and a 19-yard scoring scamper — and the Dragons trailed by just one score at 8:19 mark before Sutter’s TD began a 21-point run.
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Benassi, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior, played the majority of games during his final prep season without his top wideout Dylan Anderson and running back Ty Jackson, who were both sidelined with season-ending injuries.
“We just dug our feet in the ground,” Benassi said, finishing with 138 passing yards, 65 rushing and three total TDs, “and kept pushing. … I’m a quarterback, but if coaches need me to play anywhere else — (offensive line) — I don’t care. I’m that type of competitor to be out there and do whatever it takes to win and I hate losing.”
Tyra finished 6-for-8 with 106 yards, completing his first five passes including TDs on three successive passes. He also averaged 10.9 yards per carry.
Sutter caught two balls for 25 yards, while Dunlap wide receivers Jacob Gleason and Kenyon Gillespie had scoring TDs of 27 and 29 yards, respectively.
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“It’s good to advance,” said Cazalet, who has coached Dunlap to five of the program’s 11 playoff victories. “We needed it. These kids deserved it. They’ve worked for it. It’s a great night for Dunlap.”
Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA football scores: Dunlap beats Pekin to snap playoff losing streak
