{"id":876963,"date":"2025-10-11T23:15:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/11\/jackson-little-and-co-step-up-for-kaneland-after-second-half-injury-to-rogan-oneil-big-loss-that-hurt-us\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T23:15:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:15:32","slug":"jackson-little-and-co-step-up-for-kaneland-after-second-half-injury-to-rogan-oneil-big-loss-that-hurt-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/11\/jackson-little-and-co-step-up-for-kaneland-after-second-half-injury-to-rogan-oneil-big-loss-that-hurt-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson Little and Co. step up for Kaneland after second-half injury to Rogan O\u2019Neil. \u2018Big loss that hurt us.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Football <\/p>\n

\n

Kaneland\u2019s Jackson Little<\/a> understands the mantra of \u201cnext man up\u201d espoused by high school football coaches far and wide when it comes to injuries.<\/p>\n

A 6-foot, 205-pound junior linebacker, Little has experienced it firsthand. Earlier this season, he missed three games with an avulsion fracture to the outside of his ankle.<\/p>\n

Little returned quickly but experienced another side of it Friday night when the Knights lost junior linebacker Rogan O\u2019Neil<\/a>, the team\u2019s leading tackler, in the second half to an upper-body injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great player, a good leader and a great guy on the field,\u201d Little said of O\u2019Neil, who entered the game with a team-high 52 tackles. \u201cWhen it happens, we\u2019ve got guys ready to take that role.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne guy goes down, another has to step up. This was frustrating, though. We made mistakes with penalties toward the end. Playing the run the whole time and they hurt us with two passes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also seemed like a wrinkle in time, with visiting Rochelle riding an option running attack to build a huge advantage in time of possession for a 21-20 Interstate Eight Conference victory over the host Knights in Maple Park.<\/p>\n

\"Football
Kaneland’s Jackson Little (21) looks over Rochelle’s offensive line in the second quarter of an Interstate Eight Conference game against Rochelle in Maple Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman \/ The Beacon News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rochelle held the ball for 35:01 of the 48-minute game, limiting Kaneland (5-2, 2-2) to just 12:59. The Hubs (4-3, 2-2) also were inspired, playing for an injured teammate in Dylan Manning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The junior running back, who has gained 2,000-plus yards for his career, sustained a serious head injury the previous week at Morris and remained hospitalized following surgery.<\/p>\n

Manning\u2019s family members attended the game, with two of his brothers serving as honorary captains for the coin toss. There was a prayer and a moment of silence as both teams gathered at midfield.<\/p>\n

Kaneland\u2019s Jack Parker<\/a>, a senior linebacker, picked up a vibe from the opening kickoff.<\/p>\n

\"Football
Kaneland’s Rogan O’Neil (44) weaves through Rochelle’s defense in the second quarter of an Interstate Eight Conference game against Rochelle in Maple Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman \/ The Beacon News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey were definitely charged up, ready to play,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThey were playing for him. They wanted it. They came out and executed better than us on offense and beat our defense down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior fullback Roman Villalobos<\/a> led the way for the Hubs. He gained 140 yards on 32 carries and scored three short touchdowns. Three extra-point kicks by Aaron Hernandez<\/a> were the difference.<\/p>\n

Kaneland scored quickly, with an 11-yard TD run and a 3-yard TD run by senior running back Carter Grabowski<\/a> and a 6-yard TD run by senior quarterback Jalen Carter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Knights, however, had one extra-point kick blocked and missed another one, sandwiched around a successful 2-point conversion.<\/p>\n

\"Football
Kaneland’s Jack Parker (53) reacts on the sideline against Rochelle in the third quarter of an Interstate Eight Conference game against Rochelle in Maple Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman \/ The Beacon News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe just couldn\u2019t get them off the field,\u201d Kaneland coach Mike Thorgesen<\/a> said of the run-heavy Hubs. \u201cFirst-and-10, second-and-7, third-and-3, first down. That\u2019s the formula for them to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way our offense was playing, that was their way to win \u2014 hold onto the ball and score when they had it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grabowski finished with 146 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving, but the Hubs countered with scoring drives that ate up 9:30, 2:31 and 12:42 in time of possession. They also converted three plays on fourth down, including Villalobos\u2019 late run that allowed them to run out the clock.<\/p>\n

By that point, O\u2019Neil\u2019s absence had been felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d Parker said. \u201cHe\u2019s been the heart and soul of our run-stopping defense the past few weeks, and it\u2019s just a big loss that hurt us in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Football
Kaneland’s Jackson Little (21) follows a play against Rochelle in the third quarter of an Interstate Eight Conference game against Rochelle in Maple Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman \/ The Beacon News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Rochelle held a 55-34 edge in plays, its advantage in total yards was just 260-255.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was heartbreaking because we\u2019d get the third-down stop and they\u2019d make a fourth-down conversion,\u201d Little said. \u201cIt was just like we couldn\u2019t do the one more play we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could O\u2019Neil have made a difference?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s our best linebacker,\u201d Thorgesen said. \u201cNot having him in the second half, maybe that\u2019s worth a stop, maybe not. He\u2019s a good player and we would have liked to have him for a game like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a tackle machine. We could have used him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published:

Read More<\/a> Qiana Pingree<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaneland\u2019s Jackson Little understands the mantra of \u201cnext man up\u201d espoused by high school football coaches far and wide when it comes to injuries. A 6-foot, 205-pound junior linebacker, Little has experienced it firsthand. Earlier this season, he missed three games with an avulsion fracture to the outside of his ankle. Little returned quickly but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":876964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790,230,1502],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-876963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"category-jackson","9":"category-little"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}