OP_100517

opprairie.com Sports
the orland park prairie | October 5, 2017 | 41
Football
Sandburg worn down by West running game
Tim Carroll, Sports Editor
Friday, Sept. 29, was an
eventful day for Caleb Marconi.
He got his driver’s license,
he had the pep assembly
for homecoming, and
then he went and rushed for
115 yards against Sandburg.
Marconi handled almost
all of the offense for the Warriors
on his 16th birthday,
helping the Warriors beat
the Eagles 27-13. He had 32
carries on the evening, and
the Warriors student section
took notice. By the end of
the game, they were singing
a special song for him.
“It means a lot, especially
when the student section
started singing ‘Happy
Birthday’ to me,” he said.
It was a game that looked
evenly matched after 24
minutes. Lincoln-Way West
drove on its first possession,
with Marconi leading the
way. But the Warriors’ drive
stalled when they reached
the Sandburg 12-yard line,
where senior quarterback
Anthony Senerchia tried
passes to receiver Cullen
Barry and tight end Evan
Weygandt that were broken
up by Sandburg defensive
backs Ricky Kwak and Mark
Fassler, respectively.
That led to a 32-yard field
goal attempt by senior kicker
Brock Krohe, who split the
uprights to put the Warriors
ahead 3-0 with 4 minutes
and 46 seconds left in the
Nicky Shelton, a Sandburg senior receiver, catches the ball
all alone for a score in the second quarter Friday, Sept. 29,
at Lincoln-Way West. Mike Lorenz/22nd Century Media
first quarter. His second field
goal, a 22-yarder that put
West ahead 6-0, came with
11:06 left in the first half.
Krohe was able to make
those field goals and all of
his extra points despite dealing
with some pain.
“He got hurt Tuesday in a
soccer game, and his [kicking
foot is] all taped up” West
coach Dave Ernst said. “... He
wasn’t supposed to be able to
go, but they taped him up, and
the trainers released him.”
Krohe’s were not the only
good special teams plays of
the game. The Warriors also
got a punt block recovery
from Anthony Lullo, who
added a 26-yard punt return.
Matt Murphy also returned a
kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown
for the final score of
the game.
In the first half, Sandburg
got the offense going
in fits and spurts. Following
Krohe’s second field goal,
Sandburg’s Jaimie Marines
nearly broke the kickoff return,
bringing it 34 yards to
the Sandburg 40. After a pair
of runs by running back Andrew
Schab gained 10 yards
and a run by quarterback
Christian Shepherd netted 3
yards, the Eagles went deep.
From 47 yards out, Shepherd
pump-faked on a stopand-go
route to senior receiver
Nicky Shelton. The
defender stopped with the
pump fake, and Shelton was
left all alone in the secondary
for a touchdown. Sandburg
would miss the extra
point, and the teams went
into halftime tied at 6-6.
On the first play of the
second half, Sandburg tried
to catch West unaware. On
a flea flicker attempt, Shepherd
was hit as he threw, and
Warriors linebacker Kevin
Davis took receipt of the
lofted pass. It was one of
three interceptions for the
Warriors. Lullo had one on a
deep ball that gave West possession
back at the end of the
first half, and he took another
late in the second half to
close the door on Sandburg.
As a whole, the Warriors
defense kept the Eagles offbalance.
“We’ve got those four
three-year starters, [defensive
lineman Nick Skentzos,
defensive backs Jake Price
and Murphy, and linebacker
Ryan Robbins], that are the
leaders of the group, and they
just play so hard,” Ernst said.
“They fly around to the ball.”
After Davis’ interception,
West took over at the Sandburg
22-yard line. Marconi
drove down to the 3-yard line,
where on fourth-and-goal, he
was stopped at the line.
“Defensively, we knew
that they want to run the
ball,” Sandburg coach Scott
Peters said. “We knew that
we were going to have to step
up our game a little bit. We
did a really nice job battling.”
A couple possessions later,
Sandburg was forced to punt
from the back of its own
end zone. After a short one
to the 24-yard line, Murphy
brought the ball all the way
to the Eagles’ 6. Three plays
later, Marconi found the end
zone from 4 yards out to put
West up 13-6.
“The O-line got a lot of
push to get me in there, so
it’s really on them,” the running
back said.
“He’s a horse,” Ernst said
of Marconi. “They were hard
yards. They had eight and nine
guys in the box, and they were
doing everything they could
to stop the run. And when
you’ve got a guy like him, he
just keeps pounding away.
The West defense forced
another punt, and the Warriors
took over at their own
48-yard line. On the first
play, senior receiver Alex
Croft beat his defender on
a seam route, and Senerchia
put the ball on him in stride
to put West up 20-6.
Sandburg’s final score came
after a Schab-heavy drive.
The junior running back carried
the ball eight times on the
drive to help the Eagles get
to the 1-yard line, and then
Shepherd kept the snap and
reached over the pile at the
line for a touchdown to bring
Sandburg within a score.
West immediately answered,
however, with Murphy’s
weaving kickoff return
touchdown to cap the scoring
at 27-13.
“The kickoff [was] another
big play for them that really
kind of turned the tide,”
Peters said. “... So, just when
you think you’ve got a little
momentum going and you
get a defensive stop, you
give up something like that,
and that’s a killer.”
The Warriors (4-2) knew
coming in that the Eagles (2-
4) had their backs against the
wall.
“I told the guys this is the
biggest game of the season,
most important game of the
season thus far, because it
was a game [Sandburg] had
to win to get into the playoffs,”
Ernst said.
The win carried a little
something extra for Ernst,
who had coached Peters
when he was a student at
Providence Catholic.
“I love Scott,” Ernst said.
“He was a guy that when he
was playing you knew was
going to be a coach.”
Peters also said it was fun
to coach against his former
coach.
“A lot of those guys over
there, I either played for or
played with, so we had a
good feel for how they like
to do stuff,” Peters said.
And people at the upper
levels of football knew this
was a big game, too. Former
West player B.J. Bello sent
Ernst a message the coach
then read to the team.
“I’ve played in primetime
Big 10 college football
games,” the message reads.
“I’ve played in seven NFL
games now. And none of
that beats walking out with
the band on Friday night at
Lincoln-Way West. Make
sure those guys understand
and know how important it
is. Now, go kick their ass.”
PRESSBOX PICKS
Our staff’s predictions for
the top games in Week 7
22-8
21-9
20-10
19-11
Lincoln-Way West (4-2) at Thornton (4-2)
Lockport (1-5) at Lincoln-Way East (6-0)
Sandburg (2-4) at Stagg (4-2)
Lincoln-Way Central (5-1) at Waubonsie Valley (3-3)
Providence Catholic (4-2) hosts Fenwick (4-2)
22-8
Tom Czaja | Contributing
Editor
• LW West 30, Thornton 13. More
battle-tested Warriors comfortably
able to get past Wildcats on the
road.
• LW East
• Sandburg
• LW Central
• Providence
Tim Carroll | Sports Editor
• LW West 27, Thornton 18. West
just beat Sandburg, and Sandburg
already beat Thornton. That’s just the
transitive property.
• LW East
• Sandburg
• LW Central
• Providence
Max Lapthorne |
Contributing Editor
• LW West 17, Thornton 10. West
inches closer to a playoff berth
with grind-it-out road victory.
• LW East
• Stagg
• LW Central
• Providence
Joe Coughlin | Publisher
• LW West 35, Thornton 14. Wildcats
are outgunned in this matchup,
as Warriors get a step closer to
playoffs.
• LW East
• Sandburg
• LW Central
• Providence
Heather Warthen | Chief
Operating Officer
• Thornton 17, LW West 14. This
is going to be a close one, but a
tough loss for the Warriors.
• LW East
• Sandburg
• LW Central
• Providence