Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script for the #2 moment on our countdown of the top sports stories at Pleasantville this past school year, as the Pleasantville football closed the doors on their old stadium with a thrilling, playoff-clinching 29-28 victory over Cardinal.

Entering the Week 8 matchup on October 15th, the Trojans had a 3-4 record with a shot at the playoffs in Class 1A. Pleasantville had to defeat Cardinal to force a three-way tie in District 6 with their opponent and Central Decatur, and then hope their point differential was better than at least one of the other two teams to make the playoffs. 

In a back and forth first half, Blayton Nilles had a 51-yard catch that set up a Trojans touchdown and then returned a kickoff 86 yards for a score. Pleasantville also got second quarter rushing touchdowns from Dillon Ammons and Jacob Hiemstra, to gain a 29-22 advantage going into halftime. Cardinal trimmed the Pleasantville lead to just one in the third quarter, but the defenses prevailed from there as both teams were held scoreless for the final 24 minutes.

With the victory, the Trojans catapulted into the Class 1A football playoffs by beating out Central Decatur based on point differential.