COLLINSVILLE – Running back one blocked kick for a touchdown is a huge accomplishment.
To have it happen twice in the same game – that rarely happens.
But it happened to Collinsville Friday night as Trevore Sanders ran back a blocked Alton field-goal attempt 70 yards for a touchdown, then quarterback Jordan Reichert took a blocked Kahok field-goal try 24 yards for another score as the Kahoks celebrated their Homecoming with a 34-9 win over the Redbirds at Kahok Stadium.
The loss kept the Redbirds winless for the season at 0-6 overall, 0-4 in the Southwestern Conference, while the Kahoks went to 2-4 overall, 2-2 in the SWC.
“They blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown, and then we block a field goal and they pick it up and score a touchdown,” said Redbird coach Eric Dickerson. “I can say I’ve never seen that happen in all my years. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way; you gotta pick up the pieces and pull it together. We just had a hard time doing that tonight.”
“It was a great high-school football game,” said Kahok coach Rick Reinhardt. “A Homecoming game. You name it, it happened tonight; blocked kicks, big plays and great offense.”
The first blocked field-goal return happened about midway through the second term; the Redbirds were lined up for a 38-yard field-goal attempt by Will Davis, but Kameron Garcia broke through and blocked the attempt. The ball bounced to Sanders, who picked it up and was off to the races with a 70-yard return.
“We had the right guy blocking it and the right guy chasing it down, no doubt about that,” Reinhardt said with a laugh. “That was a huge play; it’s the first Trevore’s played in three weeks. He’s huge, no doubt.”
The first blocked FG only put Alton down 14-2 at the time; the Redbirds had scored a safety when an errant snap went into the end zone and Reichert stepped on the end line recovering the ball, then got a touchdown on the ensuing drive after the first block to make it 14-9.
The second blocked TD came when the Kahoks’ Matt Cook tried a 34-yard field goal, only to see it blocked. The ball bounced around a bit and Reichert picked it up and sprinted into the end zone from 20 yards out to put the Kahoks up 21-9 at the long break.
“We had our heads down, but at that point, we were still only 21-9 down and we were getting the ball back to start the second half,” Dickerson said. “We score a touchdown, it’s 21-16. Hats off the Collinsville, they came out and the defense stepped up in the second half. They really shut us down.”
“That was a gift from above,” Reinhart said. “The gods from the (1957 Kahok team, who were honored before the game; they finished that year 6-0-3 and won the football program’s only SWC championship) were smiling for us one more time.”
Collinsville then put the game away in the final quarter when Reichert scored for the third time in the game (he had scored from three yards out late in the first quarter to open the scoring) from eight yards out and Max Lyons broke loose for a 71-yard touchdown run late in the term.
The Redbirds host Granite City at Public School Stadium next week, while the Kahoks travel to O’Fallon. Kickoff for both games takes place at 7 p.m.
