MM_091516

52 | September 15, 2016 | The Mokena Messenger Sports
mokenamessenger.com
Griffins fall to indomitable Homewood-Flossmoor team
East looks to
bounce back against
Bolingbrook
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
Down five points with 1
minute, 24 seconds left in
the fourth quarter Friday,
Sept. 9, in Frankfort, the
Lincoln-Way East football
team faced a fourth-and-7 at
the Homewood-Flossmoor
18-yard line.
Senior quarterback Max
Shafer trotted out to the field
after a timeout, and after receiving
the snap, he dropped
back a few paces before unleashing
a pass to his right
toward the end zone. But the
Vikings’ Dylan Duplessis
got a good read on the pass,
which was just a hair out of
East wide receiver Ken Anderson’s
reach, and the Vikings
defensive back caught
the ball to ice the game for a
35-30 Vikings win.
“He got beat early on, and
I told him he owed us one,”
H-F coach Craig Buzea said
of Duplessis after the game.
“He stepped up and made
one.”
A lot of Vikings stepped
up to hand the Griffins their
first loss of the season. Chief
among them were quarterback
Bryant Wright and
wide receiver Tyrice Richie,
who connected for three
touchdowns – including the
game-winning score on a 34-
yard play midway through
the fourth quarter. The duo
connected on touchdown
plays of 40 and 44 yards earlier
in the game, and Wright
also scored on a 15-yard
keeper in the first half.
“He’s an outstanding player,”
Buzea said of Richie.
“He got overshadowed last
year … but I’ll put it this way
– Northern Illinois got a steal.
“This team is unknown;
there are so many young
guys. You never know what
you’re going to get. I knew
coming into an environment
like this, it was going to be
tough for our guys. You just
had to stay the course. Luckily,
we struck back a couple
times and it was a heck of a
football game.”
East coach Rob Zvonar
said the big difference in the
game was Richie’s play.
“I think that’s a Division
I player out there making
plays,” Zvonar said. “Most
of the night, they kind of did
what they wanted on [offense].
But I thought to hold
that offense in the second half
to 7 points was a credit [to
us]. To score 30 points, credit
our offense. But we just gave
up too many points in the first
half.”
East got off to a good start
against H-F, leading 14-0
early in the first quarter on
two long touchdown passes
from Jake Arthur to Jeremy
Nelson (7 receptions, 107
yards). The first was a 27-
yard strike over the middle
on the game’s opening drive.
The next came on the following
series on almost the exact
same play, this time going 41
yards for the score.
But H-F battled back and
led East 28-21 at the end
of the first half. East tied it
early in the third on a 3-yard
scamper by Ryan Scianna (7
rushes, 19 yards). Then, after
taking an intentional safety
in the fourth, East was down
just five with about three
minutes to play. But the Vikings
survived.
“We certainly needed to
try to do something, because
it was a point a minute for
their offense in the first half,”
Zvonar said of second-half
adjustments. “They were awfully
impressive. They outschemed
us there a little bit,
too. There were some things
we haven’t seen, and they executed
very well.
“We adjusted a couple of
little things that fortunately
made a difference, but overall
we just tried to do things better
[in the second half].”
Zvonar, however, was
pleased with his offense’s
performance. Arthur finished
14-of-19 for 195 yards, while
Shafer wound up 12-of-21
Lincoln-Way East players (left) high-five Homewood-Flossmoor players following their
game. julie mcmann/22nd century media
for 100 yards but with two
interceptions. Nick Zelenika
caught nine passes for 64
yards, while Anderson caught
eight balls for 75 yards. Nigel
Muhammad rushed 11 times
for 41 yards, while Brendan
Morrissey gained 38 yards
(including a 2-yard touchdown)
on seven carries.
“I thought the offense
played tremendously all
night,” Zvonar said. “I know
they are going to feel like
they stalled a few times when
they needed to be productive,
but I think if you put up that
many points against that football
team, you should win the
football game.”
Despite the big gains
by the Vikings on offense,
Buzea said the Griffins were
the best defense he’s ever
coached against.
“That’s a hell of a program
and this is a hell of a win for
us,” he said.
And ultimately, the Vikings
just had one more play
in them than the Griffins in
Week 3.
“No one is going to fold up
tent here after Week 3, and
we needed to play a game
like this to find out where
we’re at,” Zvonar said. “All
but the scoreboard at the end
was an even game. So, we
know we’re this caliber of a
football team. We can play
with a team like [H-F], and if
we had made a couple more
plays, we had an opportunity
to win.
“We’re going to take some
positives and build from
them. And we’re going to
take the negatives and correct
them.”
East fell to 2-1 on the
season, and it will travel to
Bolingbrook in Week 4. H-F
improved to 3-0.
Football
From Page 54
But unfortunately for the
Knights, both of Campbell’s
did. His second one, a pick
by Jungheim just 1:21 into
the second half, gave Lockport
the ball at the Central 48.
Four plays later the Porters
faced 4th-and-2 at the 26, but
Moore gained six yards for a
first down.
Another 4th-and-2 followed,
this one from the 12.
Once again, Lockport went
for it and Moore motored,
nearly untouched, up the
middle for a 12-yard TD run
to cap the 9-play drive and
give the Porters a 13-7 lead.
“First off it shows the
confidence the coaches have
in me to give me the ball,”
Moore said of getting the call
on the key fourth down situations.
“On [the second one] I
just saw touchdown.”
It continues the odyssey
for Moore, who had a few
carries for minus-1 in the
season opening win 20-9 win
at Downers Grove North. But
he has substituted for senior
John Snidanko, who is still
out with an injury, and gained
over 400 yards from scrimmage
[including passing
yards] the past 2 weeks.
“I thought I was going to
be a backup the entire season,”
Moore admitted. “But
I’m just stepping up and doing
my job. I’m thankful for
the opportunity and the offensive
line has been great.
We just want to keep winning
and make the playoffs.”
Both teams still have playoff
aspirations and Cordell
wants the Knights to remain
positive and correct their
mistakes.
“I was proud of the kids on
the last drive to come back and
score,” he said of the final TD
march. “But it comes down
to opportunities and we have
to take advantage of ours. We
win and lose as a team and we
are looking at the opportunity
to be 1-0 [this] week [7:30
p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 at home
against Thornwood]. We will
be fine.”
Peyton Nigro had a pair of
interceptions and fellow junior
linebacker Nick Degregorio
added one for Central.
But Jungheim had the key
pick for the Porters to start
the third quarter.
“We knew what we wanted
and we got it,” Jungheim
said. “We wanted to be 3-0
and this is huge. We have
a team that wants the same
thing together and we’re just
playing with fire.”
Lockport will go into Week
4 against another undefeated
oppenent in Homewood
Flossmoor.