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38 | October 11, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot SPORTS
newlenoxpatriot.com
West combats Thornton’s speed, wins on homecoming
Sean Hastings
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way West football
coach Dave Ernst said the
Warriors’ win over Thornton
was their best win of the year.
He called it a “complete
team win” with the contributions
from the offense
scoring, the defense shutting
down Thornton’s offense and
the special teams playing
well.
Thornton scored on its first
drive of the game, but West
scored 17 straight points and
won 17-7 on its homecoming
and senior night on Friday,
Oct. 5 in New Lenox.
“Anytime you beat Thornton,
you feel great,” Ernst
said. “[Coach] Dontrell
Jackson does a great job
with those kids. They’re always
coached up and have a
scheme to take away things
we do well.”
The Warriors knew that being
able to stop Thornton’s
speed was going to be tough
and something they would
have to adjust to.
On the Wildcats’ first drive
of the game, they put together
big plays and made the usually
sound Warrior defense
make bad misses on tackles.
That drive included a 42-yard
gain on a screen pass and an
10-yard score on a designed
quarterback draw by Derrick
Williams Jr.
Senior defensive back Andrew
Sherry and senior defensive
lineman Kaidon Lingle
led West with five tackles.
“Starting off in film, you
can’t really see their speed,”
Sherry said. “You have to
see it on the field to get a real
feel.”
Besides the first drive of
the game where the Wildcats’
speed was lethal, the Warriors’
defense allowed less
than 100 yards the rest of
the game. Thornton had 153
yards of total offense.
Box Score
1 2 3 4 F
Thornton 7 0 0 0 7
West 0 14 3 0 17
3 stars:
1. Patrick Ayala
22-yard FG, 2/2 on XP
2. Andrew Sherry
5 tackles, pass breakup
3. Marconi- 2 touchdowns
114 yards, 43-yard reception
Ernst said it took time to
adjust to their speed, but
loved the pressure that the
defensive line put on the
quarterback.
“Our front six is so tough,”
Sherry said.
The Warriors had three
sacks as a team, which says
a lot because of how Williams
could make guys miss.
Lingle, senior defensive end
Marco Corsetti, and junior
defensive lineman Peyton
Knepper each had a sack.
The thing with Thornton
is that even though West
was dominating defensively,
breaking off a big play for a
touchdown to tie the game, or
a big gain to get close, would
not come as a surprise.
West’s offense continued
to chip away at Thornton’s
defense, and while it was
not an offensive explosion, it
scored when it needed to.
With Thornton’s big-play
ability, potentially the biggest
score of the game was
senior kicker Patrick Ayala’s
22-yard field goal in the third
quarter to put West up two
scores 17-7.
Ayala made a field goal the
week before against Sandburg
to open the scoring and
now his confidence is high.
“I knew it was important
[to make the kick] and scoring
an extra three points was
huge because it was going to
be a two-possession game,”
Ayala said. “I knew the ball
was going to go through. I
wasn’t worried and everyone
had confidence in me, but
when it went in, it was a relief
for everybody.”
West’s field goal unit has
been nearly perfect all season
and Ayala equates that to the
work they put in at practice.
“Martin Bender is an amazing
snapper, Brody Ceh is an
amazing holder and we’re
just unison on that unit,” he
said.
His field goal was set up
by a long 43-yard pass reception
from senior quarterback
Greyson Grimm to junior
running back Caleb Marconi
after a fake handoff to him.
Grimm placed the ball perfectly
to a wide-open Marconi
on the right side. Later
in the drive senior fullback
Dylan “The Horse” Holstein
made a step back move on
Thornton’s Division I defensive
back and made him miss
inside the 10-yard line.
West tried to pound it on
three tries, but was unsuccessful
this go around.
Marconi ran in both Warrior
touchdowns from five
and three yards out contributing
to his 114 rushing yards.
Both scores came in the second
quarter, with the second
being on fourth down with 13
seconds left in the half.
Senior running back Donté
Barber made a return to the
field against Sandburg where
he racked up 143 yards and
Lincoln-Way West’s Aidan Tyk returns a punt into Thornton territory Friday, Oct. 5, during
West’s homecoming game. Mark korosa/22nd Century media
a touchdown. He has been
nursing an ankle injury, but
feels like he is almost all the
way back and is just enjoying
being on the field.
This week he had 82 yards
on the ground.
“I just love playing this
sport,” he said. “It’s my passion,
it’s what I do and it’s my
favorite thing.”
Marconi has led the rushing
attack for much of the
season and scored both
touchdowns against Thornton
in a split game between
the two backs.
And with split time at the
running back position and
two completely different
styles, having both running
backs ready to go can make
West dangerous, Barber said.
“Even if I don’t get all the
scores all the time, if setting
up for the team is what I can
do, then that’s what I’ve got
to do,” Barber said. “I feel
like (opposing teams) have
to plan for both of us now.
We’re two different styled
backs and you can’t just plan
for one, you have to plan for
both because we’re both going
to attack you two different
ways.”
Barber picked up yards
early in most series, including
a 24-yard run, and Marconi
would pound it forward
the extra three-to-four yards
NFL player, alum gives pregame speech
Sean Hastings
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way West players
were greeted by former
West star, and current NFL
player, BJ Bello.
Bello gave the team a
pregame speech and for
Dave Ernst, who coached
Bello when he played seven
seasons ago, it was great
to have him back, he said.
“The thing with him is
how great of a person he
is,” Ernst said. “He’s just a
great human being. He’s a
great player and all that, but
he’s an even better person.”
Bello, who has played
with the Cleveland Browns
and most recently with the
Arizona Cardinals, did not
know what he was going to
say.
“It means the world to
me,” he said. “I told coach
for a first down.
The win pushed the Warriors
to 5-2 on the season,
which makes them playoffeligible,
but the team knows
that 7-2 sounds a lot better,
especially since it can give
them a home playoff game.
For seniors Barber and
Ernst I was just going to
freestyle it. I walked up
there and it felt like was
ready to play again.”
He said it feels like it was
yesterday when he was at
West.
They say, “home is
where the heart is,” and for
Bello, it’s right here in New
Lenox.
“That feeling I get every
time I pull up to this parking
lot,” he said. “Once
I make that left turn into
this parking lot. I get this
feeling in my body that
this is home. It’s my comfort
zone. You grow up
with these people, you’ve
known these people your
whole life. New Lenox is
filled with the best people
I’ve met in my whole life.”
He said all he wants to do
now is to make New Lenox
proud.
Sherry, not getting a chance
to come back to their home
field one time is not an option.
“I want to win on this field
one more time,” Barber said.
“It’s all our senior years so
let’s try and get back on this
field one more time at least.”