L-P comes up short in O’Fallon: NewsTribune football roundup

FOOTBALL

O’Fallon 24, La Salle-Peru 19: The Cavaliers’ slim playoff hopes were dashed with a nonconference loss in the regular season finale Friday in O’Fallon.

La Salle-Peru fell behind 17-0 in the first half on a 1-yard run by Maddox English, a 65-yard interception return for a TD by Caleb Harrington and a 35-yard field goal, but scored the next 12.

Freshman quarterback Marion Persich threw an 8-yard TD pass to Landon Zellers with 2:35 left in the first half and the Cavs trailed 17-6 at halftime.

Persich scored on a 2-yard run with 7:27 left in the third to pull within 17-12.

The Chargers added a 15-yard TD pass with 4:59 left, but L-P had one more rally. Persich ran for a 14-yard score with 3:42 left then recovered an onside kick but couldn’t score again.

Persich finished 10-of-22 passing for 232 yards and a TD with three interceptions, while Zellers had 98 receiving yards and a TD and Mikey Hartman had 79 receiving yards. Persich ran for 65 yards.

L-P finishes 3-6.

Mercer County 56, Mendota 14: The Trojans took the lead when Braiden Freeman returned a fumble 13 yards for a touchdown with 20.9 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Golden Eagles scored the next 56 points in a Three Rivers Conference crossover in Aledo.

Jayden Lesley ran for a 55-yard TD with 21.7 seconds left for Mendota, which finishes 0-9.

Lesley rushed for 72 yards on six attempts, while QB Aden Tillman completed 16-of-25 passes for 72 yards with Freeman catching six passes for 31 yards.

Heyworth 34, Fieldcrest 30: The Knights led 22-14 in the second quarter but couldn’t hang on in a Heart of Central Illinois Conference Small Division loss in Heyworth.

Fieldcrest finishes 1-8 overall and 0-8 in conference.