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The Frankfort Station 102716
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frankfortstation.com Sports<br />
the frankfort station | October 27, 2016 | 55<br />
fastbreak<br />
Lincoln-Way Patriots win MSFL championship<br />
Semi-pro team<br />
brings home trophy<br />
after undefeated<br />
MSFL season<br />
Catalina Marquez/Lincoln-<br />
Way Patriots<br />
Steve Millar<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
1st-and-3<br />
Lincoln-Way Patriots<br />
edition<br />
1. Terrific Tony (ABOVE)<br />
Quarterback Tony<br />
Powell was named<br />
the Mid States<br />
Football League<br />
Most Valuable Player<br />
for the third straight<br />
year. He threw eight<br />
touchdown passes<br />
against the Quad City<br />
Raiders earlier this<br />
season.<br />
2. Beginning a legacy<br />
Defeating the Door<br />
County Destroyers<br />
31-0 earlier this<br />
month earned the<br />
Patriots their firstever<br />
MSFL title.<br />
3. Packing the defense<br />
The drive all the way<br />
up to Wauwatosa,<br />
Wisconsin was not<br />
an issue, as the<br />
Patriots defense<br />
stepped up at the<br />
right time with its<br />
first shutout of the<br />
year coming in the<br />
championship game.<br />
Members of the Patriots come together for a group picture<br />
after winning the title.<br />
In 2015, the Lincoln-Way<br />
Patriots went undefeated<br />
through the Mid-States<br />
Football League regular<br />
season, only to drop the<br />
championship game to the<br />
Racine Raiders.<br />
This year, the Patriots<br />
were out for vengeance. On<br />
Oct. 1, they got it, rolling<br />
to a 31-0 win over the the<br />
Door County Destroyers in<br />
the MSFL Championship<br />
Game in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.<br />
It was the semi-pro team’s<br />
first MSFL title.<br />
“This was really a progression<br />
for us over a year,”<br />
coach Jim McClelland said.<br />
“After losing in the championship<br />
game last year, we<br />
felt we were ready this year.<br />
There’s no substitute for experience.<br />
We prepared ourselves,<br />
and we got the job<br />
done.”<br />
The Patriots finished<br />
12-0 in the MSFL and 13-1<br />
overall for the summer<br />
season. Next, they plan to<br />
play champion teams from<br />
other leagues over the fall<br />
and winter, beginning Nov.<br />
5 with a game against the<br />
Midwest Chargers at Illinois<br />
Wesleyan University in<br />
Bloomington.<br />
“We’re looking for a<br />
chance to be crowned national<br />
champions,” McClelland<br />
said. “We’ll have this<br />
game at Illinois Wesleyan,<br />
my alma mater, and then<br />
we’re looking to set up another<br />
game with a national<br />
power in December.”<br />
In the MSFL championship,<br />
the Patriots jumped<br />
out to a 24-0 halftime lead,<br />
getting a pair of defensive<br />
touchdowns, and rolled to<br />
the win.<br />
It was in sharp contrast to<br />
last year’s title game, when<br />
they fell behind early and<br />
could not recover.<br />
“Last year, Racine returned<br />
the opening kickoff<br />
for a touchdown, we<br />
fumbled the ball, they got a<br />
couple long passes, and all<br />
of a sudden we’re down 21-<br />
0,” McClelland said. “This<br />
year, we came out and made<br />
sure we didn’t make those<br />
mistakes. We weren’t going<br />
to come up short again.”<br />
Chris Muhammad, who<br />
plays wide receiver and<br />
safety and returns kicks for<br />
the Patriots, wasn’t with the<br />
team last year, but he saw<br />
the determination his teammates<br />
possessed after that<br />
loss.<br />
“Pretty much the whole<br />
motivation all year was<br />
based off last year,” Muhammad<br />
said. “The guys<br />
came so close and we knew<br />
that they were supposed<br />
to win it all last year and<br />
didn’t, so this year, we came<br />
out and played the way we<br />
know we can and made sure<br />
we’d get it done.”<br />
Muhammad was part of<br />
an explosive offense that<br />
averaged 43 points per<br />
MSFL game.<br />
“We had a lot of weapons,”<br />
Muhammad said.<br />
“(Quarterback) Tony Powell<br />
is amazing. He’s great<br />
at drawing up certain plays<br />
and reading the ‘D’. It was<br />
a fun offense to be a part of<br />
Lincoln-Way Patriots quarterback Tony Powell holds up<br />
the MSFL Championship trophy after defeating the Door<br />
County Destroyers 31-0 earlier this month.<br />
Photos by Catalina Marquez/Lincoln-Way Patriots<br />
and to watch.”<br />
Powell was named the<br />
MSFL’s Most Valuable<br />
Player for the third time.<br />
“Quarterback is the<br />
toughest position to play in<br />
all of sports, physically and<br />
cognitively,” McClelland<br />
said. “You almost never<br />
Please see Patriots, 50<br />
Listen Up<br />
“After losing in the championship game last year, we felt we<br />
were ready this year. There’s no substitute for experience.<br />
We prepared ourselves, and we got the job done.”<br />
Jim McClelland — Lincoln-Way Patriots coach, on winning the first Mid<br />
States Football League championship in team history<br />
TUNE IN<br />
Girls Volleyball<br />
6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27<br />
• The Lincoln-Way East girls varsity volleyball<br />
team wraps up its regular season at the IHSA<br />
regional at Oak Forest High School.<br />
Index<br />
52 – Pressbox Picks<br />
50 – This Week In<br />
FASTBREAK is compiled by Contributing Editor James<br />
Sanchez. Send any questions or comments to james@<br />
newlenoxpatriot.com, or call (708) 326-9170 ext. 48.
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