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mokenamessenger.com sports
the Mokena Messenger | November 2, 2017 | 45
Football
Griffins post first shutout, rout Joliet West 44-0
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
It’s not how you start, it’s
how you finish.
Lincoln-Way East, the
overall No. 1 seed in the
Class 8A playoffs, took that
to heart Friday, Oct. 27, overcoming
a slow start on offense
to steamroll Joliet West
44-0 in the first round of the
playoffs in Frankfort.
On a cold night, with the
temperature in the 30s, the
Griffins (10-0) failed to score
in the first quarter. Luckily
for them, the punishing East
defense continued to dominate,
holding Joliet West to -4
yards in the first quarter.
Then, midway through the
second quarter, the Griffins
offense began to click. On
a second-and-9 from the Joliet
West 22-yard line, East
quarterback Brendan Morrissey
lofted a pass to Evan
McDermed (3 receptions, 35
yards) in the left corner of the
end zone for a touchdown.
On Joliet West’s next offensive
snap, a fumble at the
line led to East senior defensive
end Devin O’Rourke
falling on top of the ball for
the turnover.
“My teammate had [the
running back] wrapped up,
and then I came in and hit
him, and I saw the ball come
loose,” O’Rourke said of the
play.
With the ball at the Joliet
West 22, Morrissey found
Matt Judd over the middle
on a passing play and Judd
waltzed in for the score to
make it 14-0.
Later, with 54.1 seconds
Lincoln-Way East running back Jordan Corbet gets a big
block from offensive lineman Jake Tencza during the first
round of the IHSA Class 8A Playoffs Friday, Oct. 27. Julie
McMann/22nd Century Media
left in the half, East senior
running back Ryan Scianna
(17 rushes, 85 yards) scored
from 6 yards out.
On the next possession, Joliet
West quarterback Jaxon
Aubry was sacked on the
first play from scrimmage
by O’Rourke — one of two
sacks on the night for the All-
American — for an 8-yard
loss. East took its first timeout.
On the next play, a pass
from Aubry yielded a loss of
another 2 yards. East took it
second timeout. Then, on a
third-down pass from Aubry,
the East defense gave up
11 yards. East used its final
timeout of the half.
On the ensuing punt attempt,
the snap was fumbled,
and East swarmed for the
tackle — giving the Griffins
the ball at the Joliet West 7
with 21 seconds left in the
half. After a 4-yard run by
Morrissey to the sideline, the
East quarterback floated one
high in the air to the back left
corner of the end zone, where
Jackson Ritter was able to
haul it in with a defender on
his shoulder for the score
with 8.4 seconds left in the
half to make it 28-0.
After the game, Morrissey
said the biggest differences
between the first and second
quarters were play execution
and penalties.
“In the first quarter, we just
had a lot of penalties,” he
said. “Those were setting us
back. [But] even with a slow
start on offense, we were able
to come back and put points
on the board. And, obviously,
with the shutout by the defense,
that’s always a great
thing to see.”
Morrissey struck one more
time, completing a 15-yard
touchdown pass to Turner
Pallissard (4 receptions, 39
yards) along the left sideline
to make it 35-0 with 8:34 left
in the third quarter. He was
then replaced by backup Jack
Baltz.
Morrissey finished the
game 13-of-16 for 170 yards
Please see football, 42
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