Brandon McIlwain leads Council Rock North to SOL Continental title
NEWTOWN >> Things simply can’t get any better than they did for the Council Rock North football team Saturday night.
Playing in front of a pumped-up SRO crowd at the Walt Snyder Stadium, Council Rock North posted an impressive 35-14 victory over arch-rival Council Rock South behind yet another huge game from senior quarterback Brandon McIlwain.
With the victory, Rock North improved to 7-3 and won the Suburban One Continental League championship outright. The win also advanced the Indians to this week’s PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs.
Rock South (6-4), meanwhile, saw its season come to an end along with its league title and playoff hopes.
It was actually like two different games in one. Most everyone was expecting lots of offensive fireworks, but it didn’t happen at all in a first half that ended with Rock South up, 7-6.
It was in the third quarter where things heated up as Rock South opened the quarter by storming down the field and scoring on a 32-yard burst by Brendan Patterson (20 carries, 142 yards).
The second Rock South touchdown seemed to wake up the Rock North offense, which responded with a 63-yard drive and a 3-yard touchdown run by McIlwain.
Although no one could have realized it at the time, the game had now turned completely in Rock North’s favor.
Rock South never scored again against a Rock North defense that really stepped it up in the biggest game of all after often getting torched earlier in the year.
And with McIlwain leading the way, the Indians cranked up their offense with three more touchdowns. These included runs of 3 and 22 yards by McIlwain to give him four rushing TDs along with 121 yards on 23 carries.
For good measure, McIlwain also completed the scoring with a 24-yard pass to Tyler Nowmos in the fourth quarter.
Headed to the University of South Carolina and one of the top-five ranked high school quarterbacks in the country, McIlwain ended up completing 19 of 24 passes for 178 yards.
He also got plenty of help, including some hard running by Brian Choi in the second half as well as the usual sure-handed receiving of Nowmos and Devon Bibbens.
All in all it was quality stuff for a team that many predicted was dead in the water following a stunning loss to Norristown midway through the season.
Now Rock North is back in the playoffs for the third straight year and the fact it was at Rock South’s expense makes it even sweeter.
Contact Rick Fortenbaugh at rfortenbaugh@trentonian.com, or @RickFort7 on Twitter
Council Rock South (6-4) 0 7 7 0 – 14
Council Rock North (7-3) 0 6 22 7 – 35
CRN-McIlwain 2 run (Nowmos kick)
CRS-Stackhouse 1 run (kick failed)
CRS-Patterson 32 run (Patterson run)
CRN-McIlwain 3 run (Nowmos kick)
CRN-McIlwain 22 run (Nowmos kick)
CRN-McIlwain 2 run (Nowmos kick)
CRN-Nowmos 24 pass from McIlwain (Nowmos kick)
