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newlenoxpatriot.com Sports
the New Lenox Patriot | September 7, 2017 | 45
Football
Griffins answer back with a vengeance after Celtics’ opening touchdown
Chris Walker
Freelance Reporter
Providence could not
have asked for a better start
when DeShon Gavin busted
through the line of scrimmage
and past all of St. John
Vianney’s defenders for a
62-yard touchdown on the
first offensive play of its season
opener in New Lenox.
Unfortunately for the Celtics
the rest of the game and
these past two weeks have
not gone anywhere near as
well as they had planned.
After a hard fought loss
last weekend at East St.
Louis, the Celtics hosted St.
John Vianney from Missouri
but proved unable to stop
their offensive attack, losing
35-14 on Friday, Sept. 1.
What proved most frustrating
for the Celtics was
that they probably beat
themselves as much or more
than the Griffins did.
After Gavin fired up the
crowd on a night where the
Celtics honored back a true
American hero, Israel Del
Toro (1993), who re-enrolled
in the Air Force after
being severely burned over
more than 80 percent of his
body in an IED explosion
in Afghanistan, they made
mistakes that proved far too
difficult to overcome against
a team that won a state title a
year ago.
The Griffins answered
Gavin’s touchdown by scoring
28 straight points.
“It was a great experience
with everything before the
game, honoring the Purple
Heart and having the bagpipes
leading them in and
welcoming us in with a barbecue
and open arms,” Vianney
coach Paul Day said. “I
was so happy for our kids to
see this. Everything about
Providence is great. They
have an awesome program
with 10 state championships,
Providence wide receiver Dakota Kotowski stiff arms a
would-be tackler Friday, Sept. 1, during its home opener
against St. John Vianney in New Lenox.
unbelievable tradition and
fan support and are as classy
as can be.”
The Griffins tied the game
after marching down field
72 yards, culminating with a
7-yard run from Kyren Williams.
Then, the Celtics (0-2)
buried themselves with
all-too costly turnovers on
consecutive possessions.
A pick-6 from Providence
quarterback Caden Kalinowski
put the Celtics down
14-7 and a fumble from
Gavin provided the Griffins
(3-0) with excellent field position
and they only needed
three plays before Williams
caught an 18-yard pass from
Tionne Harris to make it a
21-7 game with still 5:37 left
to play in the opening quarter.
Hopeful to rebound from
those turnovers since the
night was still young, the
Celtics were forced to punt
on their next possession and
moments later, Williams was
at it again, busting through
Linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin tackles a ball carrier. Photos by Mike Lorenz/22nd Century Media
the Providence defense for
a 75-yard touchdown and a
28-7 lead.
“That beginning was huge
because they got some turnovers
on us in the third quarter,
but then their momentum
stopped,” Day said. “For us
to get those turnovers in the
first quarter, to get some
stops and to score was a big
turning point.”
Providence won the turnover
battle in the second half
as Steven Meyer snagged an
interception and Jack Halper
and Max Pignotti recovered
fumbles, but the Celtics
were unable to turn those
into points the same way the
Griffins did.
“We didn’t take advantage
of the few breaks that
we had,” Providence coach
Mark Coglianese said.
“They gave us a few opportunities.
We had some momentum
in the second half,
but we didn’t finish drives.”
The Celtics finally found
the end zone again on
Gavin’s 13-yard run midway
through the third quarter
to pull them with two
touchdowns, but the Griffins
countered with a 10-play,
time-consuming drive that
ended with Percy Mitchell
crashing into the end zone
on a short run to make it a
35-14 game.
“They’re very talented,
and they took advantage of
our mistakes,” Coglianese
said. “Across the board, they
are a very good team.”
It doesn’t get any easier
for the Celtics as they take
on St. Rita (2-0) next week,
and the Mustangs are playing
extremely well, coming off a
44-25 win over Rich Central.
“We know we’re going
into the (Chicago Catholic)
Blue division all are mustwin
games,” Gavin said. “We
just played two state champions
and when we executed
plays we played well and
when we made mental mistakes
we were in trouble.”
Now, the Celtics have to
get angry and the Mustangs
would probably like nothing
better than to send them to
0-3.
De’Shon Gavin sprints down the sideline for his second
touchdown of the game.
“We’re in an 0-2 hole but
we know Providence teams
have started bad and finished
great,” Gavin said. “As a
captain, I’m going to lead
this team and we’re going
to play with high-intensity
next week. We just need to
play consistently, make good
plays and nip the bad ones in
the butt. [St.] Rita is probably
the best team we could
play next. They don’t like us
and we don’t like them.”