Quincy and Goode set new Illinois playoff scoring record in darkened thriller
The first-round matchup ended with 172 combined points after a five-mile relocation to a lit field in Englewood.
By Yasmin Nasser ·
A logistical error turned a standard Illinois High School Association playoff game into a 172-point offensive contest between Quincy and Goode on Friday. The two schools scheduled the first-round matchup to start at 3 p.m. on a field without lights. They assumed the game would conclude before nightfall. The assumption failed. The two teams were still playing with 3 minutes and 42 seconds left on the clock when darkness forced a halt to the action.
The game had become a scoring frenzy long before the end. Goode led 22-13 after the first quarter. The second quarter saw 84 points scored. The clock ran for nearly an hour. The halftime break was reduced to six minutes to save daylight. Quincy led 74-72 entering the final quarter. The teams traded scores until Quincy held an 88-84 advantage after a Goode touchdown. The darkness became too thick to continue at the original venue.
Officials moved the game five miles to Englewood High School. Englewood has lights on its field, though the school did not play football in 2026 due to a lack of varsity players. Goode kicked off to Quincy. The Dukes managed the clock effectively in the final minutes to secure the victory.
The combined 172 points set a new IHSA record for playoff games. The previous mark was 166 points, set by Springfield and Rock Island in 2021. Springfield won that game 92-74. Goode rushed for 676 yards on 13.0-yard carries. The two teams combined for 1,454 total yards of offense.
Quincy quarterback Bryson Little threw nine touchdown passes. He broke the state record for touchdown passes in a playoff game. He threw for 675 yards, also a state record. The previous passing mark was 645 yards, set by Greenville’s Tyler Hutchinson in 2013.
The high scoring in Quincy and Goode overshadowed other first-round results. St. Joseph Ogden defeated Belleville Althoff 80-31. The two teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards in the first half. No. 1 seed Riverdale fell to 17th-seeded Eastland-Pearl City 11-8 in a defensive struggle. Roxana defeated No. 1 seed Hillsboro 55-48 using gadget plays. Dixon defeated Evergreen Park 24-21 on a fourth-down pass at the buzzer. Jagger Kemp found Owen McNitt in the end zone as time expired.
The first round featured a high volume of points across the state. Teams scored 7,134 points in 128 games. Forty-four winning teams scored at least 40 points. Only two teams won with fewer than 20 points. Eastland-Pearl City and Aurora Central Catholic were the only victors to score in the single digits. The margin of victory widened compared to the opening round.
Conference representation remains strong in the second round. Fourteen Chicago Catholic League teams remain in the bracket. Five teams survive from the DuKane Conference. Four teams remain from the Illinois Central Eight and the Illini Prairie conferences. The North Suburban Intercollegiate Conference lost most of its members but kept four alive. Forreston defeated defending state champion Lena-Winslow. Eastland-Pearl City defeated No. 1 seed Riverdale. Galena fell to No. 1 seed Heyworth in Class 1A.
