La Salle-Peru takes control in second half to beat Ag Science 40-12 in 5A first round

The 2026 La Salle-Peru football team can check off another accomplishment that hasn’t been done by the program in more than 20 years.With Friday’s 40-12 victory over No. 2-seeded Chicago Ag Science in a Class 5A first-round playoff game at Rockne Stadium in Chicago, the No. 15-seeded Cavaliers advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since the 2003 squad made a run to the 5A semifinals.“It feels outstanding,” L-P coach JJ Raffelson said. “I’m so happy for our program, our fans and the community. They’ve been wanting this. … To stack two of these (playoff wins) in a row after 23 years of not having any is just moving us in the right direction.”La Salle-Peru (6-5) will play the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 7 TF North (7-2) and No. 10 Carbondale (8-2) next weekend in the second round.“Every week from now on is just better competition,” Raffelson said. “I keep telling them, let people doubt us. We’re just going to keep fighting until it’s over. We’re just going to keep going