The Springfield area's top performances from Week 4 of the high school football season

Each week, The State Journal-Register will take a look at the top-performing teams and players from Friday night games across the Springfield area.

Athletes from Sacred Heart-Griffin, Rochester and North Mac lead our top performers for Week 4.

High school football Week 4: Scores from around the Springfield area

Ty Lott, Sacred Heart-Griffin

The senior quarterback completed 80% of his passes — 16 of 20 — and what's crazier is all four incomplete passes weren't the result of inaccurate passes in SHG's 55-14 win over Jacksonville on Friday.

His first incompletion — on his 12th attempt — was batted down by a Jacksonville defensive lineman. Two incompletions were initially caught by his targets — one receiver came down with the ball out of bounds and another lost the ball when he landed in the end zone. His other incomplete pass was a decision to get rid of the ball.

Lott's 279 yards in the air — he also ran four times for 26 yards and two touchdowns — could've been even greater but SHG consistently started drives with favorable field position. Also, DeAndre Stewart returned the second-half's opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

"When it comes down to it, the coaches can call the plays but he’s the one making the plays," senior receiver Madixx Morris said of Lott. "He’s just so smart and he can see the field. Football’s weird: you can see the field but to see the field like he does, you just can’t teach it. It’s just natural to him."

Drew Dwyer, Chatham Glenwood

The senior running back scored three touchdowns as unbeaten Glenwood blanked Southeast 42-0 in a Central State Eight Conference game at Spartan Field. Dwyer had rushing scores of 2, 18 and 12 and he finished with 78 yards on 10 carries. The Titans, ranked sixth in the Class 6A Associated Press poll, outgained the Spartans 362-83.

Dane Vance, North Mac

The backup junior quarterback ignited a spark on special teams and returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown in the first half, as the Class 2A fifth-ranked Panthers remained unbeaten with a 43-6 win at Litchfield in the South Central Conference. Vance also got some reps at QB completing 2 of 2 passes for 32 yards and had an 8-yard TD pass to receiver Joe June.

What we learned: Takeaways from Week 4 in Springfield-area high school football

New Berlin defense

The New Berlin defense forced five turnovers and held Pittsfield to 15 yards rushing on 21 attempts in a 39-7 Sangamo Conference home win. Trailing 7-0 with 1 minute, 41 seconds remaining in the first half, New Berlin recovered a fumble and scored a touchdown with :51 left. On the ensuing kickoff, the Pretzels recovered another Pittsfield fumble and two plays later got into the end zone to take a 12-7 lead into halftime. New Berlin (3-1) outscored Pittsfield 27-0 in the second half and finished with four fumble recoveries.

Keeton Reiss and Anthony Marinelli, Rochester

Reiss threw for two scores and Marinelli also found the end zone twice in Rochester's 49-0 Central State Eight Conference victory over Lanphier at Rocket Booster Stadium. Reiss, a senior, finished 4-for-6 passing for 79 yards, including a 1-yard TD pass to Marinelli and a 39-yarder to John Western. Marinelli, a senior receiver/defensive back, was responsible for the first score of the game, intercepting a pass and returning it 31 yards for a touchdown.

Jack Rouse, Carlinville

The junior running back ran for 191 yards on 30 carries and scored four touchdowns to give Carlinville its first win, a 48-0 shutout over visiting Gillespie. Rouse had TD runs of 8 and 10 yards and a pair of 3-yard scores in the South Central Conference win.

Cory Craig Jr., Athens

The junior running back totaled 25 carries for 119 rushing yards and one touchdown in a 22-14 overtime victory over Auburn at Michael J. Potts Field. He also forced and recovered a key fumble with less than two minutes left in regulation to preserve a tie. His touchdown tied the contest 14-all in the second quarter, shedding multiple tackles before diving over the goal line.

Springfield run game

Springfield High ended a two-game losing streak with a 32-13 Central State Eight Conference road game against Normal U-High. And the Senators did it with a strong run game.

The Senators ran 45 times and finished with 303 yards. Artez Hanson netted 133 yards on 13 carries while teammate Bryson Thomas had 13 carries and 73 yards.

“We’re pretty blessed to be in a few predicaments when it comes to that (being deep at a position),” SHS first-year coach Jon Hebb told the Bloomington Pantagraph. “I would rather be in that situation than not.”

Owen Quigley, Beardstown

The Tigers quarterback ran in three second-quarter touchdowns and finished with 171 yards rushing on eight attempts as Beardstown beat Concord Triopia 54-14 on Thursday night in a Western Illinois Valley Conference North Division game.

The senior Quigley also found Christy Domitien for a 24-yard pass and had scoring runs of 39, 59 and 67 yards. He also helped the Tigers (2-2 overall, 1-1 WIVC North) score eight additional points with three two-point conversion passes and one conversion run.

Quigley finished with 78 yards passing and completed five of seven attempts.

Beardstown also got touchdowns from the junior Domitien (an 8-yard run in the first quarter for a 16-0 lead), a 6-yard TD run from senior Lucas Domitien and Micah Wink scored on a 52-yard fumble return. Beardstown led 54-0 at halftime before Triopia (0-4, 0-2) added two scores in the running-clock second half.

Max Lynch, Pana

The senior quarterback racked up more than 300 yards of offense in a 28-3 South Central Conference victory over Staunton. He ran for 250 yards and three TDs on 18 attempts and passed for 52 yards on 6 of 17 throwing attempts. The Panthers (3-1), ranked No. 9 in Class 2A, led 28-3 at halftime en route to their third straight win.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Top performers from the Springfield, IL area for Week 4