Hononegah was the better team Friday night against Boylan Catholic. Senior Night was a success for the 2024 Indians.

Kelsey Field played host to a battle in the race for the NIC-10 race. Hononegah wins 17-7 over Boylan Catholic

Hononegah was the better team Friday night against Boylan Catholic. Senior Night was a success for the 2024 Indians.
Rockton, IL Hononegah beats Boylan Catholic in NIC-10 Football 17-7.

Friday night saw the Hononegah Indians defeat the Boylan Titans 17-7.

The game was tight and a tough battle between two foes who know what each other does and have been in games like this over the decades of competing against each other in the NIC-10.

Hononegah scored first and took the lead in the 2nd quarter on a 18-yard TD run from senior captain Kurtis Smith. Halftime score was 7-0 Indians. Hononegah was able to gain a 10-0 lead on a 29-yard field goal from senior Zachary Pinkston with 4:48 left in the 3rd quarter.  The Titans of Boylan were able to answer with a touchdown drive just two minutes later.  Boylan was able to thread the needle of the Indians defense for a 25-yard passing touchdown from Dominic Cacciatore . End of 3 saw Hononegah still out front 10-7. At the beginning of the 4th, Hononegah got some great blocking from the offensive line and got a key 4th and short, which led to the final score of the game. Brayden Lane took a handoff around the left end of the offensive line and was able to weave through the Titans defense for a 46-yard TD run. Indians defense was able to finished off Boylan and celebrated a 17-7 win on Senior Night for the 27 seniors honored before the game.

Hononegah saw improvement in the passing game, as senior Dominic Kelly was able to get some key first downs to senior Camden Rodriguez and Brayden Lane. The first downs came off schedule when Kelly was able to move around and connect on scramble plays.

When asked about this year's senior class, head coach Brian Zimmerman said, “Whatever way they approach it, they have energy -they feed off of each other. This group is a good bunch of teammates who WORK HARD -PLAY FOR EACH OTHER. It’s a pleasure to be with them and witness their energy and be a part of it. Makes for some FUN FRIDAY NIGHTS.”

The 2024 senior class for Hononegah so far has been a part of 35 wins overall, two conference titles numerous all conference teams and 31 conferences wins which has led the conference. They still have two more in NIC-10 play and the IHSA playoffs after that.

Big One next week on Friday night from Belvidere North. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The Indians Nation needs to bring it against the Blue Thunder if they want to bring home a huge victory in the conference race.

Thank you to Coach Zimmerman and his stats staff for providing me with their time and talents.

Thank you to Hononegah Football on Facebook for the image in the story.

A self-described sports evangelist, Harold Bone is the Rockton-Roscoe News sports editor who is committed to finding stories behind-the-box scores and discovering engaging sports content. Got a story idea? Contact Harold via email at harold@roscoenews.com and follow him on Twitter at @SPRTSEDRRNews.