BLOOMINGTON - His 210 passing yards might have indicated Stephen Esch defied the strong swirling wind and went deep a lot Friday night at Fred Carlton Field. Not so.

The Bloomington High School quarterback didn't really need the long ball against Ottawa in a Class 6A first-round playoff game.

"They were giving us the short stuff. Our receivers, if they get the ball, can get extra yards because they're so athletic," said Esch, who threw for three touchdowns. "All I had to do was get the ball to them."

Esch completed 21 of 25 attempts and allowed Josh Mitchell, David Cook and the other BHS receivers to do the rest. The eighth-ranked Purple Raiders rang up 465 yards of total offense and survived a slight scare to down Ottawa 40-14.

"They were backing off and giving us the quick hitches all night. We just took it," said Mitchell, who caught eight passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. "Esch was making great throws and me and Dave were making big catches. It just worked out."

BHS, the No. 4 seed in the 6A lower bracket, improved to 9-1 with its eighth straight victory. The Purple Raiders face the winner of today's Blue Island Eisenhower-Dolton Thornridge game in next week's second round. BHS will be at home if Thornridge wins.

Ottawa (5-5), making its first playoff appearance in four years, didn't panic after BHS scored three touchdowns in the second quarter for a 20-0 halftime lead.

The Pirates scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter, cutting the lead to 20-14 after halfback Drew Thomas caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cory Schueller.

Esch's only poor throw of the game, a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Mark Collins, set up Thomas' score. BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer, though, wasn't about to turn conservative.

"When we needed to throw both the quarterback and receivers felt comfortable, even though game was tight, to put the ball on the mark and they made some things happen afterward," said Schmelzer.

Esch completed four passes in a nine-play, 65-yard drive. Sophomore halfback Darrelynn Dunn caught a screen pass and broke a tackle for a 6-yard touchdown with 10:47 left to put BHS ahead 26-14.

Dunn, who played well on both sides, recovered a fumble on Ottawa's first play after the kickoff. Five plays later, Darian Davis scored on a 4-yard run and Jeremy Peden's conversion kick gave the Raiders a safe 33-14 lead.

"We know we can be a very good offense if we put our mind to it and play with a lot of energy," said Esch. "We wanted to have a long drive (after Ottawa got within 20-14) so we could get our defense off the field so they could get a breather. That was the most important thing."

When BHS finally went deep, it wasn't Esch. Back-up Levi Johnson hit Mitchell at midfield and the senior turned it into a 70-yard TD for the final score with 4:28 left.

Cook caught five passes for 57 yards, out-jumping an Ottawa defender in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard pass from Esch for the Raiders' first score with 7:42 left in the second quarter.

Dunn burst up the middle for a 45-yard TD run on BHS' next possession. The Raiders put together a nifty 85-yard drive in the final two minutes of the half, culminated by tight end Justin Zoeller's 4-yard TD pass from Esch with 17 seconds left.

"The drive before the half was nice to see," said Schmelzer.

The Raiders also ran for 185 yards, with Dunn gaining 89 yards on 11 carries. Dunn led BHS' defense with 13 tackles, while Johnson had 10 and Kyle Reilly nine.

Ottawa's "jet sweep" - with Thomas coming in motion, taking the handoff and going wide - gave BHS some trouble. Thomas gained 135 yards on 24 carries, while Collins made most of his 63 yards on 13 carries inside with the Raiders looking for Thomas on the outside.

However, Ottawa couldn't get much going throwing (Schueller was 5 of 7 for only 36 yards) and the Pirates couldn't stop the BHS receivers.

"In the NCIC we see 98 percent run and two percent pass. Our corners are never tested from freshmen year all the way up to senior year," said Ottawa coach Trent Swords. "We try to do seven-on-seven in the summer to get that, but it's completely different when you put the pads on. Pass coverage is not our strength."

---

More photos

To see more photos from the high school football playoffs, click here.