On a Friday when Dixon’s Landon Knigge found the end zone six times against Streator, senior linebacker Jake Whelan’s first career touchdown brought the most joy to the Dukes.

Extending the lead to 51 points just before halftime, Whelan’s interception return from midfield on the Dukes’ way to a 65-0, business-like, nonconference win had his teammates celebrating.

“I was pumped up,” Whelan said.

The Dixon (7-1) linebacker said the throw from Streator (1-7) quarterback Sam LeRette was forced off course by one of his defensive lineman.

“I think one of my D-linemen hit his hand,” Whelan said. “It went behind the guy who was catching the ball, he tipped it, and it just fell straight into my arms. I just grabbed the ball and took off.”

Whelan said he saw open field in front of him, racing his way to the north end zone.

“I was like, all right, I’m taking this one all the way back,” he said.

While Dixon’s defense has been stellar, holding opponents to 7.3 points per game heading into Friday, Whelan said it was the unit’s first touchdown of the season.

“We’ve played pretty well this year defensively. We’ve had quite a few shutouts, but one thing our defensive coordinator preaches is takeaways and scoring on defense, so our guys try to attack the football,” Dixon coach Jared Shaner said.

“You can’t pick a better kid, Jake Whelan, No. 23, our linebacker, who had the pick-6 there. The guys were really excited for him. He’s a great kid, he’s one of our leaders on the team, and they tease him a little bit sometimes about his speed, or lack of speed. So they were pretty happy he got in there.”

All fun aside about Whelan’s speed, there was no questioning Knigge’s quickness.

The senior running back scored six touchdowns on runs from 4, 63, 4, 33 and 8 to go along with a 51-yard punt return for a score. For most players, a six-touchdown game would be something special, but Knigge posted a 250-yard, five-touchdown performance just the week before.

“Credit to our O-line, but he’s a special kid. He runs very, very hard. Good vision. A tough football player, just the kind of kid you want to coach,” Shaner said.

Knigge has played in one full game this season, coming out after the first quarter in a couple others, Shaner said. Friday, Knigge played the half and took the first carry of the second half, before heading to the sideline. He finished with 177 yards on 13 carries.

“Down the road, he’s going to be the guy when we get in tight ones,” Shaner said. “He’s got to have the ball 20 to 25 times in a game then.”

It was senior night for the Bulldogs. Streator coach Jay Slone said his squad had five or six junior-varsity players on the field at a time, putting seniors in roles they haven’t played before.

On their second possession, the Bulldogs sustained a 16-play drive with three first downs, including one on fourth-and-1 from their own 45. The Bulldogs initially punted away to the Dukes, but a roughing the kicker call brought the offense back out to go for it on fourth-and -. A LeRette keeper led to the conversion. On that drive, the Bulldogs had receptions from Riley Stevens, Beckett Stevens, Will Heider and Quintin Stevens.

“I wish we could’ve sent our seniors out on a better note,” Slone said. “Numbers were down, we had a lot of freshmen play. A lot of seniors stepped up and played multiple different roles.”

Shaner credited Streator’s fight in the first quarter, holding a playoff-bound Dukes squad to seven points with less than two minutes to play in the opening stanza.

“They came out and converted a couple first downs in the first quarter and really kept the ball away from us,” Shaner said. “Offensively, we kind of stood on the sideline feeling like, you know, there’s three minutes to go in the first quarter, and it’s 7-0.”

Leodies Jordan finished as Streator’s leading rusher with 34 yards on 12 carries, and senior lineman Aiden Ferris was given a couple of carries in the fourth quarter. LeRette completed 7-for-19 passes for 40 yards to six different receivers.

In the second half, Dixon’s Owen Belzer and Preston Richards scored the Dukes’ other touchdowns on the ground. The Dukes also recorded a safety on a snap that went over the Bulldogs’ punter’s head and through the back of the end zone. Kellen Haenitsch hauled in a 35-yard reception that set up the Dukes first score.