MM_112118

28 | November 21, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger sports
mokenamessenger.com
This Week In...
Knights Varsity
Athletics
Girls Basketball
■Nov. ■ 27 - hosts Mother
McAuley, 6 p.m.
Boys Basketball
■Nov. ■ 23 - at Joliet West
Tournament, 12:45 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 24 - at Joliet West
Tournament, TBA
■Nov. ■ 27 - at Lockport (JV
level), 4:30 p.m.
Boys Bowling
■Nov. ■ 21 - at Bradley-
Bourbonnais, 4:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 27 - hosts Lincoln-Way
West, 4:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 29 - hosts Lincoln-Way
East, 4:30 p.m.
Wrestling
■Nov. ■ 21 - at Lincoln-Way
East Quad, 3:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 29 - at Thornridge,
Bradley-Bourbonnais, 5 p.m.
Griffins Varsity
Athletics
Boys Basketball
■Nov. ■ 23 - at Joliet West
Thanksgiving Tournament,
4:15 p.m.
Girls Basketball
■Nov. ■ 27 - at Montini
Catholic, 6:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 29 - host Bloomington
Central Catholic, 5:45 p.m.
Boys bowling
■Nov. ■ 24 - at Plainfield South
Invite, 9 a.m.
■Nov. ■ 26 - host Chicago
Christian, 4:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 27 - host Bradley-
Bourbonnais, 4:30 p.m.
■Nov. ■ 29 - at Lincoln-Way
Central, 4:30 p.m.
Girls bowling
■Nov. ■ 26 - host Chicago
Christian, 4:30 p.m.
Girls gymnastics
■Nov. ■ 27 - at Sandburg, 5:30
p.m.
lwe
From Page 30
swimming
From Page 29
events.”
The three juniors are
Braelyn Binkowski (18th,
:57.35) in the 100-yard butterfly
and (37th, :59.35) in
er intercepted Ramblers
quarterback Jack Fallon
near midfield and returned
it 42 yards for a game-tying
touchdown.
Loyola regained the lead
on the next series, as kicker
Nate Van Zelst hit a 34-yard
field goal to put his team up
10-7.
The Griffins followed with
a methodical drive, capped
off by a 6-yard touchdown
run by junior Devon Williams
(23 carries, 84 rushing
yards). But East missed the
extra point, giving them just
a 13-10 lead.
On the next series, the
Griffins defense forced a
punt from deep inside Ramblers
territory. It could have
been a huge shift in East’s
favor. But after a high snap,
the Ramblers punter booted
a low line drive punt toward
midfield. On the bounce, the
ball hit an East player trying
to avoid it, and then went
right to a Ramblers special
teams player.
Then, with the ball at
their own 43, the Ramblers
put together a scoring drive
capped off by a 29-yard
touchdown pass from Fallon
to Rory Boos with 41.5 seconds
left in the half to make
it 17-13.
“Some uncharacteristic
mistakes on our part, that we
hadn’t made this year, and
obviously came back to bite
us,” Zvonar said of the East
miscues during the game. “A
lot of near misses, and a lot
of near chances. In a game
like this against an opponent
like that, it comes down to
who makes the most plays.
Today, they did.”
East would not be deterred.
After a sizable kick
return that put the ball at the
East 44-yard line, the Griffins
executed a trick play as
senior wide receiver Matt
Judd took a handoff from
senior quarterback Jack
Baltz. Judd stopped, looked
downfield and hurled a
pass to senior wide receiver
Chase Anderson, who took
it 51 yards. But despite three
chances at the Ramblers’
5, East couldn’t punch in
a touchdown, settling for a
21-yard field goal by junior
kicker Dominic Dzioban to
make it 17-16.
East had a chance to take
the lead in the third quarter,
but a 45-yard field goal
attempt by Dzioban hit the
goal post.
Then, early in the fourth
quarter, the Ramblers converted
on a third down —
one of many third-down
conversions by the Ramblers
in the game — for a 19-yard
touchdown from Fallon to
Boos to make it 24-16.
“Our third-down defense
this year has been exceptional,”
Zvonar said. “We’ve
been an unheard of 70 to 80
percent on third downs getting
off the field. But I’m
sure it was way less than 50
percent when you look at
it today. It was some critical
third downs and some
third-and-longs, and they got
some playmakers and made
some big plays.”
Still, East battled to the
end.
Getting the ball back with
3:14 left in the game and
down by 8 points, Baltz (12-
of-26, 158 yards, 2 INTs; 4
rushes, 19 yards) was able to
keep hopes alive by driving
down the field. He connected
with Judd (6 receptions,
75 receiving yards) on a
the 100-yard backstroke.
Along with Alicia Pearson
(39th, 1:08.59) in the 100-
yard breaststroke and (44th,
:24.96) in the 50-yard freestyle.
Plus Kristina Winter
(39th, :54.42) in the 100-
yard freestyle and (39th,
The Griffins’ Devon Williams punches one in for a TD. Williams finished with 23 carries for
84 yards. Photo by Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
fourth-and-18 play that went
21 yards. Then, Baltz scrambled
for a 14-yard run, setting
up a first-and-10 from
the Loyola 14-yard line with
4.4. seconds left.
After an East timeout,
Baltz fired a pass to the end
zone toward Judd. But with
two defenders on him, the
senior couldn’t haul in the
score as time expired.
“A lot of things that had
throughout the season gone
our way kind of went the
other way today,” Zvonar
said. “We just got outplayed
today by Loyola, and that’s
where the credit goes. John
Holecek, I said it a year
ago at the state championship
game, that he’s one of
1:57.49) in the in the 200-
yard freestyle.
They were all part of the
two Griffin relays as well. In
the 200 yard-medley relay
it was Binkowski, Pearson,
freshman Lexi DiSera and
Winter (27th, 1:50.06), and
the best out there. This is a
heck of a program. They outplayed
us today, and we take
our hats off to them.”
Zvonar said the Ramblers
play great football in November,
but he’d still take
his group.
“They are a heck of a program,
but I’ll take our group
any day of the week — and
twice on Saturday afternoons,”
he said. “I said it
last year: That school represents
a hundred area codes,
and we represent three. I’ll
take our group any day of
the week.”
‘This is family’
As the East players began
to depart the field, Baltz
also the 200-yard freestyle
relay the foursome of Pearson,
Binkowski, senior Jordan
Bruni, and Winter (29th,
1:39.96).
“This was Braelyn’s thirdyear
here in more than one
event,”Gaby said. “Now
credited his teammates for
continuing to fight until the
end.
“That’s the culture around
here: to never quit, even until
the last second,” Baltz
said. “We just came up a
little bit short this year.”
He, like his coach, also
would take his guys over any
other team’s.
“This is family,” Baltz
said. “These guys, I would
never change a thing. I
would do this again in a
heartbeat. Being with these
guys was amazing. They
are just a big family, and we
all just gelled together over
the season. I loved every
second of being with these
guys.”
we’ve had girls here and
know what it’s like. We tapered
and did our best in
the sectional to give a run at
Central and get everyone we
could to state. Next year we
will look to do even better at
state.”