The game may have officially started at 7:30 p.m., but for Warren, the game didn't start until about 8:40 p.m.
After a half-hour rain delay and a relatively flat first quarter and a half, where the Blue Devil offense couldn't string together a significant drive against a Wildcat defense that has struggled at times, the Blue Devils came alive, scoring 47 unanswered points en route to a 47-14 win.
Both teams took to the field for what seemed to be a meaningless game for both sides. Libertyville was out of the playoffs, and Warren, who made the playoffs, didn't need to win to improve their playoff seeding.
Libertyville, however, was playing for pride and for its seniors. Early in the game, that made the difference.
The Wildcats came out to an early 7-0 lead off of a 28-yard reception by running back Demarqus Wilson. Wilson caught the ball near the line of scrimmage, cut in, and found the back of the end zone unopposed. The touchdown was setup by a solid drive led by quarterback A.J. Schurr, who had multiple rushing plays on the drive.
The Wildcats would prevent Warren from scoring in the first half, and would score again early in the second quarter, when Schurr found standout wide receiver Jeremy Birck for a 71-yard touchdown pass along the far sideline. The touchdown and the successful point after put the Wildcats up 14-0 midway through the second half.
Minutes later, the Wildcats had the ball and the momentum when, out of nowhere, the heavens opened up and the stands cleared out. The nearly half-an-hour rain delay absorbed the momentum that the Wildcats had built up, pretty much splitting the game into two very different contests. During the first part of the game, the Wildcats were dominating. The second half, not so much.
"Well, the first half I thought we played one of our best halves," said head coach Randy Kuceyeski. "They returned the kickoff back about sixty yards to gain field postion, and after that it was an uphill battle."
Less than a minute after the rain delay ended, the Blue Devils scored their first touchdown of the night off a back-breaking 18-yard run by running back Nola Sordyl. Warren would miss the following point after attempt, but that was virtually all they missed from there on.
"[The wet field] didn't affect us as much as Warren did," said Kuceyeski.
The Blue Devils then proceeded to exploit a defense that had been the Achilles heel of the Wildcats all season long. Warren would score the remainder of their 47 points against a defense that gave up an average of 35 points per game.
Turnovers ended up being the final blow for the Wildcats. Schurr ended the day with four interceptions. The first team offense would not finish the game either. They were pulled with roughly four minutes left in the game to give players who hadn't played much all season and to prevent injury for those participating in winter sports.
The loss put the Wildcats at 3-6 on the season, the third season in a row that the team has missed the playoffs. Warren was eliminated by South Elgin in the first round of the playoffs, 21-13.