The Indiana Football Coaches Association is looking at its proposal for revamping the football playoff system as a way to improve the sport, while IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox wants it to transcend to multiple sports.
FORT WAYNE – The advantage for the visitors from Illinois might have come last week.
Rolling Meadows hadn’t started its season yet, so the Mustang coaches made the 4-hour drive from the suburbs of Chicago to scout Wayne’s season opener eight days ago against Harding.
The Generals didn’t have that benefit and had to face the Mustangs with little or no information and certainly no video to scout of the strangers, and the end result was a 25-6 home loss Saturday.
“We got the chance to make the trip up last Friday,” said Rolling Meadows coach Doug Millsaps, who brought a dozen coaches with him to Fort Wayne. “We liked the opportunity to do something new, and we embraced it.”
Wayne (1-1, 1-0 SAC) opened the season with a 31-12 win over Harding, while Rolling Meadows (1-0) was making its 2010 debut after returning 16 starters from 2009.
“It was a unique challenge for us,” Wayne coach Kyle Beauchamp said. “We didn’t have any film on them. We had the opportunity to learn a little bit about them through the Internet and other sources we were able to get our hands on. Aside from that, there wasn’t a lot because they can’t even scrimmage in Illinois, so they didn’t even have that under their belt yet. There wasn’t a lot of information, but that’s no excuse for our sluggish start.”
Rolling Meadows senior quarterback Kevin Cwynar completed 17 of 24 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a touchdown. Junior running back Garrett Peterson added two 1-yard scoring runs.
“It is a long trip, and we knew we had to prepare mentally and watch film on the bus,” Cwynar said. “(On the bus trip) we were just focused on the game, and we wanted to come out with a W.”
The Mustangs were 7-3 and won the Mid-Suburban League last year.
Cwynar hit Artie Checchin from 33 yards out for a 7-0 first-quarter lead. Peterson’s first short touchdown run made it 13-0 in the second, and Cwynar scored on an 11-yard keeper to make it 19-0 just before halftime. Rolling Meadows pushed the advantage to 25-0 early in the fourth when Peterson scored from a yard out.
With starting quarterback Jordan Patterson missing the first quarter for a violation of team rules, the Generals got off to a slow start and found themselves in a 19-0 hole by halftime.
Patterson, a senior, finished with 124 rushing yards and 100 passing yards in three quarters and threw a 7-yard scoring strike to junior Ronald Lucas in the fourth quarter for the Generals’ lone score.
