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newlenoxpatriot.com Sports
the New Lenox Patriot | September 28, 2017 | 45
Football
West offense slows down against 7A powerhouse
Jason Maholy
Freelance Reporter
“Big, strong and fast... and
a couple of guys who are just
a nightmare to block.”
Those are the words Lincoln-Way
West head coach
Dave Ernst used to described
Homewood-Flossmoor’s
swarming, smothering defense
after the Vikings topped
the Warriors, 28-9, on Friday,
Sept. 22 in New Lenox. The
Vikings’ prevention corps appeared
to be all of the above
as it limited the West offense
to just 80 yards from scrimmage
and three first downs
while remaining unbeaten
through five games.
The Warriors’ inability to
move the chains on offense
contributed to a six-minute
deficit in time of possession
and an overworked defense
that gave an inspired effort.
The Vikings came into the
evening averaging more than
50 points a game, and hadn’t
scored fewer than 43 in any
of its first four contests.
West senior defensive
tackle Nick Skentzos had
one-and a half sacks, and
senior defensive back Jake
Price recorded a safety.
“We had opportunities
where we had field position
and couldn’t get it done on
offense... I thought the defense
played great,” Ernst
said. “They were out there,
I don’t know how many
snaps, but it was a lot.”
The Vikings ran 52 offensive
plays to the Warriors’
43, and held the ball for
more than 27 minutes.
“And it wasn’t because we
couldn’t get off the field,”
Ernst said. “We made them
punt more (three times) than
they’ve punted in the rest of
their games, combined. We
just couldn’t get anything
going on offense. But we’ll
get it fixed.”
West sophomore running
back Caleb Marconi found
little room to run against a
defense that played as if it
had more than 11 guys on the
field. Holes closed almost as
soon as they opened, and
when Marconi did manage
to find one he was mobbed
within a yard or two of the
line of scrimmage. He finished
with 22 carries for 62
yards and a touchdown.
“They had five [guys] in the
box and we had seven blocking
five, and still couldn’t run
the ball,” Ernst said, referring
to Homewood-Flossmoor’s
defensive scheme.
The Warriors couldn’t
pass, either, with senior
quarterback Anthony Senerchia
completed just 4-of-18
passes for 23 yards and two
interceptions. Some of that
was because of the Vikings’
team speed, which quickly
closed off passing lanes and
allowed few West receivers
to get open.
The contest was tight for
most of the first half. Homewood-Flossmoor
opened the
scoring when sophomore
quarterback Dominick Jones
found running back Justin
Hall streaking down the
right sideline about 20 yards
down-field. Hall eluded one
defender, cut back toward the
middle of the field and made
two more defensive backs
miss before reaching the end
zone on a 51-yard play.
West knotted the score
at seven when, after Aidan
Tyk recovered a fumbled
punt deep in Viking territory,
Marconi bulled in from six
yards out. The burly running
back hit a defender at the line
of scrimmage and bounced
to the outside, then ran over
two Homewood-Flossmoor
defenders as he stretched the
ball over the goal line.
The Vikings scored twice
in the second quarter to take
a 21-7 halftime lead. The
Warrior defense provided
some hope in the third quarter
when Price tackled Hall
in the end zone for a safety
to bring West within 12; but
the offense, despite starting
the ensuing drive near midfield,
could do nothing.
“They’re good. I think it’s
the best team we’ll play all
year,” Ernst said. “We had
our chances and we’ll keep
getting better. We still feel
good about our team. We
lost to a better team tonight.”
Boys soccer
Warriors win five straight, take home PepsiCo crown
Steve Millar
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way West was
fired up heading into Sunday’s
PepsiCo Showdown
Lurie Children’s Hospital
Bracket championship game.
Last year, the Warriors
reached the championship
game, but fell 1-0 to Huntley.
“That’s what was fueling
us in this game,” West coach
Matt Laude said. “It was getting
so close to the goal last
year and falling short. We
wanted to mentally push ourselves
to pull this one out.”
The Warriors would not be
denied this time around. Junior
midfieler David Flores
scored twice to spark West to
a 4-1 win over St. Patrick at
Triton College in River Grove.
“This feels great,” Flores
said. “This team is amazing.
Our chemistry is great.
We’re playing really well
together.”
It was the fifth straight win
for the Warriors (7-4-1).
West struck first six minutes
in off a long throw-in from
Luke James. Kyle Seymour
got his head on the throw and
flicked it toward Flores, who
sprinted in and blasted his
shot into the back of the net.
The goal gave the Warriors
early momentum.
“When you score that
early, that’s huge,” Laude
said. “It completely changes
the complexion of the game.
From there, you can dictate
the pace of the game and just
keep pushing.”
St. Patrick (9-4-2), though,
responded as Christopher
Modrzejewski tied the game
just past the midway point of
the first half.
It was still 1-1 at halftime,
but the second half belonged
to West.
The Warriors again struck
early in the half. Brock Krohe
slipped a pass to Nolan
McGrath, who was charging
down the middle of the field.
McGrath sped past a defender
and scored the go-ahead
goal with 36:07 to go.
“Momentum is so important
in soccer,” McGrath said.
“After that, their heads were
down, we were all over them
and we felt like we could score
as many goals as we wanted.”
In addition to momentum,
the Warriors also seemed to
have a little bit of luck on
their side as Flores scored
one of the strangest goals
of his career to give West a
two-goal cushion.
Flores took a corner kick
and sent it toward the middle
of the box, but the pass
didn’t connect with any of
his teammates and wasn’t
cleared by a defender. Instead,
the ball landed untouched
near the goal, took
a strange hop off the turf,
and tucked neatly inside the
far post to make it 3-1 with
27:13 to go.
West continued to attack
and left no doubt about the
outcome when senior Will
Best scored off a Krohe pass to
make it 4-1 with 11:35 to go.
Connor O’Shaughnessy
made three saves for West.
After the victory, the Warriors
got to partake in the
traditional PepsiCo Showdown
celebration: the “Pepsi
Spray”, in which players spray
Pepsi on each other similar to
pro athletes spraying champagne
in the locker room after
winning championships.
They also spent plenty of
time posing with, and drinking
out of, the Stanley Cuplike
trophy.
“We wanted this bad,”
McGrath said. “After only
losing 1-0 last year, we had a
lot of motivation. This team,
we work hard like crazy and
we never give up. We’re just
looking for good results every
day and we’ve been getting
them lately.”
Football
From Page 46
outcoached, outplayed —
the whole deal — in the first
half.”
Zvonar took the blame for
the first half, saying he made
some bad decisions on going
for it on the two fourth-down
attempts that led to Central
points.
“All of a sudden, it’s 14-
0, and they had all the momentum,”
Zvonar said. “But
getting the ball and getting
the big play by A.J. in the
second half really energized
us.”
Central coach Jeremy
Cordell said both teams
made adjustments at halftime,
but ultimately it came
down to one thing.
“The bottom line is this …
I don’t feel that we matched
the intensity in the second
half,” Cordell said. “You
have to finish all four quarters.
We’re going to learn a
lesson from this, and we’re
going to continue to get better.”
Cordell said the game was
emotional for a lot of reasons.
“There are some close ties
[between the teams] and everything
else,” he said. “And
especially, us having the
lead the first half and having
control of the game, that is
what hurts more.
“But I can’t take away
anything from [East]. They
scored 28 straight in the
second half, and we did not
match their intensity on offense
or defense. I take my
hat off to them.”
But Cordell said the
Knights will take something
from the game moving forward
the rest of the way.
“I told our guys after
the game that this doesn’t
change the way I feel about
them or change the way the
coaches feel about them,”
he said. “We’re going to
learn a lesson from this,
and we’re going to get better.
[The coaches are] going
to own just as much of this
as the players. We’re all in
this together. We’re going
to get right back to work tomorrow,
and we’re going to
come back super hungry.”