We’re talking dynamic duo.

Seniors Dominick DeBlasio and Aric Johnson give Kaneland a formidable one-two punch on offense from the wide receiver position but offer so much more.

In their Class 6A playoff opener at Riverside-Brookfield — a 56-20 rout in favor of the Knights — senior quarterback Troyer Carlson’s favorite targets showed off their versatility.

Anything you can do I can do better. That seemed to be the theme as the DeBlasio and Johnson dialed it up in their very own numbers game.

DeBlasio may have had the edge, but not by a lot, catching five passes for 100 yards and one touchdown and carrying 14 times for 150 yards and four TDs after spelling dinged-up starter Josh Mauthe.

“I had to step up,” DeBlasio said of his move to running back. “I’m used to switching positions. I don’t think it affects me.”

DeBlasio played quarterback in weeks seven and eight when Carlson, in his fourth year as starter, was sidelined. DeBlasio led the Knights (7-3) to a pair of wins.

“Freshman year I played quarterback,” DeBlasio said about Carlson being promoted to varsity. “All through middle school, Aric (Johnson) and I both played running back, so it was like second nature.”

Johnson countered with a three-TD performance, one on a short run, another on a 25-yard pass reception and one on an 85-yard kickoff return.

“All season we’ve been wanting to get a kick return,” Johnson said. “On film, we didn’t think their kickoff team was as aggressive as some we’ve played this season.

“We thought we’d get a chance to take one to the house, and we did.”

Johnson, who also starts at defensive back, almost had a fourth TD, returning his third interception of the season for a score that was called back by a penalty.

“Aric had a great game,” Kaneland coach Mike Thorgesen said. “He played some defense for us last year, usually when we’d throw him out there to shadow a good receiver. He’s definitely more into defense this year.”

Johnson catches a rare break on punt returns, which are handled by DeBlasio, who also sees spot duty on defense at outside linebacker.

Johnson has 304 yards rushing this season and 38 receptions for 882 yards. DeBlasio has 300 yards rushing and 32 receptions for 587 yards.

“Most of my runs came from jet sweeps in the past,” Johnson said. “This year, we’ve had some two-back sets or straight up formations for me to go into the backfield just to get the defense confused a little bit instead of having me out wide.”

The Knights, seeded ninth, move on to the second round for a 4 p.m. Saturday game at home against top-seeded Lake Zurich (9-1), a 21-7 winner over Crystal Lake Central in the first round.

In all three of its losses, Kaneland led in the fourth quarter against teams that are a combined 28-2. The Knights lost 33-27 to Washington (9-1), 43-33 to Morris (10-0) and 22-21 to Sycamore (9-1) on a last-second 2-point conversion.

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“Being able to run the ball more has been a big help,” said Thorgesen, who credited assistant coach Johnathan Busch.

That group on offense is anchored by seniors Brett Larson, a third-year starter at right guard and Nick Alstott, a two-year starter at left tackle.

They are joined by junior center J.R. Warfel, senior left guard Elijah Smith and sophomore right tackle Jake Buckley.

“My sophomore year we were heavy passing,” Johnson said of the offense. “Junior year we got more into the run game. This year, it’s a really healthy balance with (Mauthe) almost at 1,000 yards and I’m almost at 1,000 receiving.

“You have to pick your poison on how you want to stop us.”

DeBlasio and Johnson, meanwhile, keep going head-to-head.

“I don’t think we can top (last week),” DeBlasio said. “We just need to stay competitive with each other instead of trying to one up each other.”