Raiders Run Wild on Neuqua Valley in 33-14 Win

Aaron Bailey racked up rushing yard after rushing yard, and touchdown after touchdown, in the Bolingbrook Raiders' postseason opener.

The junior quarterback's legs rarely stopped moving in Bolingbrook's 33-14 win against Neuqua Valley Friday. Bailey scored four touchdowns and rushed for 300 yards on 16 carries, doing the heavy lifting for the Bolingbrook offense.

“You can't put one guy on him,” head coach John Ivlow said about his star quarterback. “If you put one guy on him and think you're going to stop him, you're sadly mistaken. And you're probably going to lose.”

The Raiders (9-1) jumped on the Wildcats (5-5) on their opening possession. Bailey's 71-yard touchdown run on Bolingbrook's second play from scrimmage sparked the team's strong start.

Jaden Huff piled on, as the sophomore running back scored on Bolingbrook's third possession and extended the Raiders' lead to 13-0.

An 80-yard touchdown run by Bailey gave Bolingbrook a 20-0 lead and put the home team in the driver's seat, seemingly ready to cruise to an easy victory.

But Neuqua Valley clawed its way back into the contest, scoring a pair of touchdowns off turnovers, making it a 20-14 game at the half. Junior running back Joey Rhattigan put the Wildcats on the scoreboardwith 1:24 to go before the half. Senior quarterback Nathan Boudreau connected on a Hail Mary pass as time expired in the first half.

Bailey took it upon himself to make sure his teammates didn't go into the half with their heads hanging.

“This is a game where we're going to have trials and tribulations, so don't lay your head down because of one play,” Bailey said when asked what he told his teammates at the half. “So what, this is football, we're going to come back and execute our game plan.”

Bolingbrook's defense withstood Neuqua Valley's second half push, pressuring the quarterback and keeping the Wildcats out of the end zone.

Bailey did the rest, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns and putting the game on ice.