KYLE NEVINS, kylen@mywebtimes.com, (815) 431-4085

Photo: Doug Larson Ottawa’s Mark Collins is stood up by Bloomington’s Josh Mitchell on a run up the middle in the Pirates’ 40-14 road playoff loss on Friday night. Ottawa finished the season 5-5.

BLOOMINGTON -- The Ottawa Pirates and Bloomington Purple Raiders each controlled two quarters of play during their Class 6A first-round state-playoff matchup on Friday night.

Ottawa held a potent Bloomington offense scoreless over the first and third periods, while the Pirate offense tallied two third quarter touchdowns to cut the Purple Raiders' advantage to 20-14 after falling behind 20-0 at the half.

But fourth-seeded and No. 8 state-ranked Bloomington, who scored three TDs in the second stanza, added three more in the fourth quarter, to pull away for a 40-14 victory over No. 13-seed Ottawa at Fred Carlton Field.

"We owned the first and third quarters, they owned the second and fourth quarters," Pirates head coach Trent Swords said. "In the end, it came down to the fact that they made the plays. We just needed to make one more thing happen. The kids played hard and we gave them a game, and they (Bloomington) weren't expecting that."

In the opening quarter, the Ottawa defense stopped the Purple Raiders' offense twice on fourth down situations in Pirate territory. The Bloomington defense also prevented Ottawa from reaching the endzone, after the Pirates failed to convert a fourth down on the Purple Raider 20-yard line.

In the second quarter, Bloomington took advantage of an Ottawa fumble. Stephen Esch completed two passes to Justin Zoeller for 19 yards, and added a 17-yard run. On first-and-goal from the Pirate nine-yard line, Esch connected with David Cook, who made a leaping catch, for a touchdown at the 7:11 mark. The two-point pass was no good, leaving the score 6-0 Purple Raiders.

After an Ottawa punt on its next series, Bloomington struck quickly with Darrelynn Dunn going 45 yards for a TD run. Esch hit Zoeller for the two-point conversion to extend the advantage to 14-0 with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.

Later in the quarter, Esch and his receivers perfectly executed the two-minute drill. Esch completed eight-of-nine attempts on the drive for 69 yards, capped off by a four-yard touchdown strike to Zoeller with :17.5 seconds left. The two-point pass failed, to leave the score 20-0 Purple Raiders going into halftime.

The Pirates marched 66 yards in nine plays on their opening series of the second half -- the highlight being a 23-yard swing pass from Ryan Schueller to Drew Thomas on a fourth-and-five from their own 40-yard line -- capped off by a six-yard TD run from Mark Collins. Dan Dillard made the PAT kick to make the score 20-7 with 7:42 showing in the third quarter.

On the ensuing Bloomington drive, Collins intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards, which eventually set up a Schueller to Thomas four-yard touchdown pass. Dillard nailed the PAT kick to cut the Ottawa deficit to 20-14 at the 2:42 mark of the third quarter.

The Purple Raiders put the contest out of reach, though, putting up three more TDs in the fourth quarter: Esch a six-yard pass to Dunn (10:47), Darian Davis a four-yard run (8:53) and Levi Johnson a 70-yard pass to Josh Mitchell (4:28). Adam Peden booted the PAT kicks on the last two scores to make the 40-14 final.

Thomas rushed for 135 yards (giving him 1,183 on the season) on 24 carries, and caught three passes for 32 yards and one touchdown to lead the Pirates' (5-5) offense. Collins carried the ball 13 times for 63 yards and one TD. Schueller completed 5-of-7 passes for 36 yards and one touchdown.

Bloomington (9-1) racked up 465 yards of total offense (280 passing, 185 rushing). Esch led the way offensively, completing 21-of-25 attempts for 210 yards with three TDs and one INT, along with rushing for 56 yards on 10 carries.

Mitchell had six catches for 154 yards and one touchdown, while Cook had five receptions for 57 yards and one TD. Dunn rushed for 89 yards on 11 carries, and also hauled in a TD catch.

Ottawa (5-5) 0 0 14 0 -- 14

Bloomington (9-1) 0 20 0 20 -- 40

First Quarter

No scoring..

Second Quarter

B -- Cook 9 pass from Esch (pass failed), 7:11, 6-0.

B -- Dunn 45 run (Zoeller pass from Esch), 4:36, 14-0.

B -- Zoeller 4 pass from Esch (pass failed), :17.5, 20-0.

Third Quarter

O -- Collins 6 run (Dillard kick), 7:42, 20-7.

O -- Thomas 4 pass from Schueller (Dillard kick), 2:42, 20-14.

Fourth Quarter

B -- Dunn 6 pass from Esch (pass failed), 10:47, 26-14.

B -- Davis 4 run (Peden kick), 8:53, 33-14.

B -- Mitchell 70 pass from Johnson (Peden kick), 4:28, 40-14.

-- -- --

O B

First Downs 15 26

Rushes-yards 52-194 31-185

Passing 36 280

Total Offense 230 465

Comp-Att-Int 5-7-0 22-26-1

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-1

-- -- --

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- O: Thomas 24-135, Collins 13-63, Kurtz 2-5, Lewis 1-4, Small 2-4, Armstrong 2-4, Grobe 1-1, Reed 1-(-1), Schueller 6-(-21). B: Dunn 11-89, Esch 10-56, Davis 4-33, Lamberti 4-7, Williams 1-1, Johnson 1-(-1).

PASSING (Comp-Att-TD-INT-Yds.) -- O: Schueller 5-7-1-0-36. B: Esch 21-25-3-1-210, Johnson 1-1-1-0-70.

RECEIVING -- O: Thomas 3-32, Rasmussen 2-4. B: Mitchell 6-154, Cook 5-57, Zoeller 4-28, Bishop 2-18, Wilson 2-17, Dunn 1-6