Down to the Barbed Wire

Photo: Senior Zack Thielk manhandles a DeKalb player during Kanelands 37-34 loss against the Barbs. Photo by Laura Gampfer

Late comeback try falls short in first-ever conference loss to DeKalb KANELANDIt seems like 2014 has the Northern Illinois Big XII Conference upside down.

DeKalb and Yorkville are atop the current landscape, with Kaneland, Sycamore and Morris looking up.

The Knights, after a valiant fourth-quarter comeback and a penchant for matching visiting DeKalbs big plays, had the ball and a chance to at least tie the game with 42 seconds to go, but a Barb interception on the drives second play ended the threat and set the final in DeKalbs favor, 37-34 on Friday.

Thats what we preach to these guys, KHS coach Tom Fedderly said. Weve got to come here and have a chance at the end if we dont make a lot of mistakes. Thats something we really worked on all week. We really had a good week of practice.

Kaneland falls to 2-3, with an 0-2 mark in the Northern Illinois Big XII. It marked the first losing streak in conference play since the NIB-12s 2010 kickoff. The Knights have not had a 2-3 mark in regular season play since the 2007 campaign, after wins over Burlington Central and Batavia, with losses against Marmion Academy, Rochelle and Sycamore.

DeKalb is 5-0 and has already matched its 2013 win total, with meetings against Morris, Rochelle, undefeated Yorkville and undefeated Geneseo still to come.

These guys have been playing for a while. This is their year, and they have a lot of really good seniors and theyve got a pretty good sophomore quarterback, Fedderly said.

Kaneland QB Jake Marczuk was 23-for-36 for 420 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Wideout Connor Fedderly had 294 yards receiving and two touchdown catches, including a 61-yard bomb that brought the game to its final margin. Tyler Paulson had four catches for 69 yards.

DeKalbs Rudy Lopez picked off a tipped pass to end the first drive of the game, and the Barbs converted with a 63-yard scoring scamper by Eriq Torrey. Danny Hammermeister blocked the PAT to make it 6-0 with 8:44 left in the first frame.

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Down to the Barbed Wire