Down five, Kaneland had the ball and 81 yards to go for a victory.

Quarterback Jalen Carter led the Knights past midfield, but a pass to Carter Grabowski didn’t pick up enough on fourth down and Belvidere North escaped a Class 5A second-round game with a 30-25 victory on Friday night in Belvidere.

“I was 100% confident in both myself and my teammates,” Carter said. “It [stinks] there’s a tip play [on third down], then the last play on offense, I just led Carter a little too much. If I put it on him I think we would have picked up the first down.”

The drive for the Knights (8-3) started at their 19. A pair of runs by Carter and a screen from Carter to Grabowski placed them at the Belvidere North 44. But two incompletions brought up fourth-and-4.

Carter found Grabowski on the screen ag

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