All season long, Lincoln-Way Central hung its hat on a multifaceted ground game and ball-control offense.

But the Knights received a taste of their own medicine Friday night in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs against quarterback Asher O'Hara and Rolling Meadows.

O'Hara kept the chains moving and ran for two touchdowns as Rolling Meadows wore down Lincoln-Way Central for a 23-13 victory in New Lenox.

Lincoln-Way Central senior defensive lineman Mike Cepolski, who had two sacks, praised O'Hara.

“He was shifty,” Cepolski said. “He definitely did a good job of making people miss in the backfield.

“It was a little difficult, as the results showed. Overall, the worse thing that happened whenever they scored was from personal mistakes and stuff like that.”

Cepolski was all over the field, but time and again, O'Hara and Co. broke tackles when it looked like they had nowhere to go.

Rolling Meadows (11-0) moves on to next weekend's state quarterfinals and will face the winner of Saturday's game between Normal (9-1) and Benet (8-2).

For the Knights (7-4), a few splashy plays gave them a 13-9 lead going into halftime, but their ground game never quite got into gear.

“Our calling card all year has been able to run the ball,” Central coach Jeremy Cordell said. “We had some moments, but (Rolling Meadows) did a nice job adjusting and made some plays, and the bottom line is you've got to finish to the whistle if you're going to run the ball.”

The Knights led 6-3 after Zack Stoklosa hit Matt Pollack on a halfback pass for a 53-yard TD. Rolling Meadows responded with a 3-yard TD run from O'Hara, but the Knights retook the lead before halftime thanks to a 1-yard TD from quarterback Hunter Campbell.

That was about it for Central's offense, though. The Knights recorded just three first downs in the second half, with two of those coming in desperation mode on their final drive.

“They knew what we were going to do,” Pollack said. “They came in and took away our game plan. We had to change things up, and we weren't able to get it done.

“The offense wasn't able to step up. The defense did good, but we weren't able to get it done.”

Pollack was the best weapon for Central, catching five passes for 114 yards and running six times for 41 yards.

“You never want any consolation prizes — nobody's in it for that,” Cordell said. “This is Year 2 of the program (under Cordell), and we went from not qualifying to the second round. There's been a ton of progress made, and I'm super proud of my kids.”

Logan Malloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.