As the football team returned home for a Week 7 SouthWest Valley Red tilt with DeKalb, the Boilermakers were faced with a task they hadn’t yet had this season – bouncing back from a loss.

Last year’s clash between Bradley-Bourbonnais and DeKalb, a pesky, explosive Barbs club stuck around for all 48 minutes on the road before the Boilermakers emerged with a two-point win.

A record-breaking first half from Barbs senior wideout Davon Grant had the Barbs once again in the thick of it at halftime, trailing by 8. But Bradley-Bourbonnais’ defense rose to the occasion in the second half as the offense kept its foot on the pedal with headline-making days from several players, propelling the Boilermakers (6-1, 3-1 Southwest Valley Red) to a 48-19 win over the Barbs (2-5, 1-3).

After losing their first game of the year at Lincoln-Way Central last week, the resilience the Boilermakers showed was of the utmost importance to senior wide receiver and defensive back Lyzale Edmon, who celebrated senior night with three total touchdowns.

“I’m proud of the team, proud of how we played and proud of how we bounced back from last week at Lincoln-Way Central,” Edmon said. “It’s tough coming back against DeKalb and the receivers they’ve got. But I love this team, man.”

One of those receivers was Grant, who made program history for the second time in as many weeks. His first grab of the night was a 25-yard touchdown catch from Cole Latimer that gave him the school’s career receiving yards record and the Barbs an early 7-0 lead. With four catches for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 79-yard touchdown bomb in the second, his total now stands at 2,525 yards.

“He’s had a great career and I’m so proud of him,” DeKalb coach Derek Schneeman said. “But he’d be the first one to tell you it’s not just him, it’s the other guys he has around him too. He’s a great kid who’s going to go on and do great things.”

Like Grant, Bradley-Bourbonnais senior running back Issac Allison also found paydirt twice in the first half. His first scoring scamper was a 4-yarder to equalize things at 7-7 with 3:21 left in the first. His second came on the next Boiler drive, a 5-yard touchdown with 8:32 left in the first half that gave the Boilers a 14-7 lead they’d hold the rest of the way.

“If we can run the ball we’re going to be really good,” Boilers coach Mike Kohl said. “If they have to put more guys in the box then we’re a really good football team. We can definitely throw it and we’ve proven that and we’ve got a lot of good running backs.”

As the DeKalb defense focused more on stopping the run, Boilers senior quarterback Ellis Johnson took advantage. His 10-yard touchdown to Edmon late in the first half gave them a 21-13 lead that Byron Summral preserved with an interception in the end zone to end the half. And on the third play of the second half, he found Rontez Smith for a 37-yard pitch and catch to put the Boilers in control for the rest of the night.

Johnson, who finished the game 13-of-15 passing for 166 yards and four touchdowns, later connected with Ky’ren Edmon for a 44-yard touchdown and a 5-yarder to Lyzale Edmon, who added an 8-yard rushing touchdown.

“We were able to run the ball super well and that opened up the pass for Ellis,” Allison said. “He threw for four touchdowns and it’s hard for defenses to cover all our guys. Being able to run the ball and throw the ball, we’re hard to stop.”

After Grant had chunk plays through the air and Derrion Straughter and the Barbs’ wildcat formation caused the Bradley-Bourbonnais defense fits early on, the Boiler defense hunkered down in the second half. Save for LeBron Carrington’s 16-yard score in the closing moments, they were electric all second half. The Barbs totaled 260 yards of first-half offense, but just 31 yards in the second half.

“Respect is due, (defensive coordinator Freddie) Dudek and coach (Joe) Kubal, they planned great for our defense,” Lyzale Edmon said. “We just had to get the job done as players.”

The Barbs will look to right the ship when they host Andrew next week. Bradley-Bourbonnais hits the road to face unbeaten Lincoln-Way West.