The simple reason behind playoff success at these 3 Rockford-area schools

Lena-Winslow, one of two Rockford-area defending state champs, is just 24 yards shy of having three running backs over 1,000 yards rushing on the season.

Byron, the area's other defending state champ, is 10 yards short of having six backs on its roster with over 300 yards rushing and over 20 carries.

And then there's Forreston, the other area team still alive in the IHSA playoffs, and the team that is next saddled with the task of stopping Le-Win's stable of backs. And, well, the Cardinals have their own arsenal toting the ball, and they already have six running backs with over 300 yards rushing, and they all have 40 or more carries.

Playoff scoreboard: Where and when Rockford-area teams play in the 2022 IHSA football playoffs

It seems to be a pattern, and that just so happens to be the last area teams remaining alive in the IHSA state football playoffs. And while all three have a dominant offensive line — which is, they all agree, where it all begins — and a powerful defense, they also all have the deepest backfields around.

"I think everybody knows it starts up front, and that's what makes that run game really go," Le-Win lineman Henry Engel said earlier this week. "But when you've got a bunch of backs that can all do damage the way our guys can, it's near impossible to stop."

The IHSFCA announced its all-state teams on Tuesday, and it's no surprise that Le-Win has a lineman (Engel) and a running back (Gunar Lobdell) on the Class 1A list, and Forreston's offensive-linemen-turned-fullback Johnny Kobler was on it as well. Byron's long list of stars in the backfield washed each other out of the Class 3A list.

And now on Saturday they all will get to a chance to show what they've got again. Forreston is at Le-Win for a 2 p.m. Saturday semifinal in Class 1A, and Byron heads to Elmhurst IC Catholic for a 3 p.m. Class 3A semifinal showdown.

Here is how the three local teams have used their stable of backs to keep their seasons alive so far:

Le-Win's stacked backfield

Le-Win seems to roll out three stud running backs most years. But this may be one of its most impressive trio of backs yet — which could net them their fourth state championship in the past five years.

"Oh man, is this the most fun offense to be a part of," Engel said. "And I just love blocking for these running backs. You just give them a little something, and they're gone. ... I'll be blocking someone, and out of the corner of my eye I'll just see one of our backs and I'll know 'That's it — he's gone.'"

Last week all three went over 100 yards as the Panthers secured their fifth straight slot in the state semifinals. Lobdell led the way with 138 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries; he was followed by Jake Zeal who had 116 yards and three TDs on just six carries, and a 41-yard touchdown catch; and he was followed by Gage Dunker, who had 108 yards on 10 carries with four 2-point-conversion runs.

More:Byron's clutch QB leads Rockford's top football performers from the state quarterfinals

This is a program that has shown it can win while sharing the load, too, claiming three of the last four Class 1A state titles with a loaded backfield each time. Especially the past two in a row, and the last three in the past four years.

Last year as state champs, Le-Win had two backs over 1,000 yards (Marey Roby and Ethan Fye) and 16 TDs, and another (Brady Eilders) at 648 with eight touchdowns. In 2019, that Panthers' state championship squad also had two rushers over 1,000 yards and 16 TDs (Sean Ormiston and Isaiah Bruce), and another just over 700 yards with nine scores (Roby) and yet another at 547 and six TDs (Jack Setterstrom). And way back in 2017, Rahveon Valentine was clearly the go-to guy with over 2,000 yards rushing and 25 TDs, but Le-Win also fed Ormiston for 961 yards and 16 TDs and Gaige Schwartz wound up with 721 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns.

"We've always had that good group of running backs, and that great competition within our own team," Le-Win coach Ric Arand said. "That's what makes it so great. They push each other so hard, that game time isn't all that big of a deal."

This year, it's been back and forth between who gets more carries, and therefore, who does more damage, for Le-Win. The Panthers have outscored their opponents 632-136, including their three playoff foes 176-27, and they have thrown only 17 passes and have punted only nine times.

Clearly, they lean heavily on the run game, and just as clearly, it's working.

"That's what we do," Arand said. "That's pretty much Lena-Winslow football."

Lobdell, who came over in the offseason from Orangeville, now leads the way, but Dunker (1,104 yards rushing with 22 TDs) and Zeal (976 yards and 14 TDs) have both had their moments. Zeal also has three receptions for 94 yards and three TDs.

Now Lobdell, however, is behind only Forreston's Johnny Kobler (1,400 yards and 23 touchdowns) in the NUIC rushing race with 1,388 yards 22 TDs. They will face off on Saturday, and only one of them will have another game left after that.

Forreston's pounders

For Forreston, lineman-turned-fullback Johnny Kobler has been leading the way of late, rattling off three straight 100-plus-yard rushing games in the playoffs to take the lead in the NUIC in rushing. But he has not been alone in pounding the ball at opponents all season long.

The Cardinals have used muscle and speed, averaging 6.9 yards per carry as a team on the season, led by speedster Micah Nelson's 10.5-yard-per-carry average.

More:How Forreston football took an offensive lineman and made him into a dominant fullback

Forreston has only thrown 37 passes this season, and instead uses a constant barrage of runs that eventually wear on teams. Kobler leads the way, but Kaleb Sanders has 884 yards on the ground and 12 TDs; Nelson has 513 yards and seven TDs; McKeon Crase has 382 yards and five TDs; and Quentin Frederick has amassed 339 yards rushing with a touchdown.

Forreston knocked off Le-Win 34-28 back in the 2018 Class 1A state semis, and the Cardinals went on to claim the last of their three state titles in five years. That's their plan this year, as well.

"This team, and this backfield, has just been building and building and building," Kobler said. "Now we are so good right now. ... We're ready for anything."

Byron's backfield is locked, loaded

Byron appeared to have its workhorse plucked out when around midseason, freshman fullback Caden Considine was catching speed and building some momentum. But he went down with a leg injury and was lost for three weeks. He returned in the postseason, and once again gives the Tigers a five-headed look in the backfield.

Considine's time away evened things out for Byron once again, and now they head into their fifth straight state semifinal appearance with a slew of backs that opponents have to watch out for. Considine (665 yards rushing on just 92 carries with nine TDs) was and still is the go-to, short-yardage guy, and he can do more than that.

More:'How did we just do that again?': Byron uses another late-game TD to win quarterfinal

"We've got so many guys that can get us the yards when we need it these days," said Byron quarterback Braden Smith, who has 478 yards and nine TDs on the ground this year, and 442 yards and eight TDs through the air. "It's been so nice this season, because we can call on any of them. Any of them."

And Byron has a lot of them this year. The Tigers used as many as 13 ballcarriers in one game this season, and have never used fewer than six.

Fullback Carsen Behn has 544 yards and eight touchdowns; halfback Kye Aken has 543 yards and six TDs; quarterback Braden Smith has 478 yards on the ground and nine TDs (and 442 yards through the air with eight TDs and no interceptions); Brayden Knoll has 417 yards and six TDs; Jacob Ross has 337 yards and two TDs; and Ashton Henkel, who has four TD catches, also has 290 yards rushing and seven TDs on the ground.

And they'll be looking to use whatever it takes to get past IC Catholic in the semis for the second year in a row — and the third time since 2017.

"There are a lot of great programs out there," Byron coach Jeff Boyer said, "and we keep running into this one."

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, for more than 20 years at the Register Star, and for nearly 30 years all together.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA football: Lena-Winslow, Byron, Forreston succeed with the run