Lockport defense shuts down Plainfield North for 14-8 victory

PLAINFIELD – “Whew!”

That was the first word from Lockport football coach George Czart following his team’s hard-fought, 14-8 win over host Plainfield North in the season opener Friday night.

There was certainly a sense of relief for the Porters, as they pulled out the defensive battle.

“There was no surprise on defense,” Czart said. “We had guys answer the call. That’s what I’m proud of. We had adversity and overcame it.”

Thanks to a pair of field goals by senior Nate Blazewski, Lockport (1-0) led 6-0 through three quarters. But Then the Tigers (0-1), who hadn’t lost a regular-season game since a 24-17 loss at Oswego on Oct. 1, 2021, went 84 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Nicholas Darwish to Omar Coleman.

Senior Eli Liapis, who had a big 2-yard run on fourth-and-2 from just past midfield and then had a 17-yard run in the drive, added the two-point conversion run. That put Plainfield North up 8-6 with 7:53 to play.

But the Porters came right back. A nice kickoff return by junior Johnny Wesolowski set them up at their own 39 to start. Then, on the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Drew Gallagher found fellow senior Tanner Benaitis on a screen over the middle, which went for a 54-yard gain all the way down to the 7.

“It was our tunnel screen,” Gallagher said of the play. “We tried it right before halftime, and we saw on film that it could be open and knew that it could work well. Right before the start of that drive, my whole defense came over and encouraged me. There was just great support.”

They were very happy when Gallagher darted in from 7 yards out on a second-and-goal play for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Weslowski added the two-point conversion run, and Lockport led 14-8 with 6:41 to play.

“That was a read option, and I had great blocks by the offensive line,” Gallagher said. “A win is a win, and we’ll take it, but we have to start connecting better on offense.”

Gallagher finished 8 of 14 passing for 92 yards with an interception. Darwish was 22 of 31 for 163 yards with a TD and an interception.

Darwish tried to lead a frantic drive after Lockport turned the ball over on downs at the Tiger 16 with 1:32 remaining. He completed 7 of 8 passes, but the final one, which was lateraled twice, was stopped at the Lockport 33-yard line as time expired.

The defensive standouts for the Porters were many. But senior lineman Ryan Kutz led the way by getting a tackle for a loss on the game’s first play and had a couple of sacks including one for 13 yards with about three minutes to play in the game.

“That sack felt good. You are looking for moments like that,” Kutz said. “I credit my defensive line coach, Robb Schultz. It wasn’t always going my way in the first half, but he told me what adjustments to make.

“The guys on the defense, we’re working, we’re getting there, and we are going to get better. We recovered nicely from the touchdown, and we’ve got a lot of good, young guys. Overall, we played really well, but there are things to work on.”

The Porters forced two turnovers in the third quarter. Junior linebacker Payton Roberson, who also had a sack, had an interception. Senior linebacker Jameson Clark had a fumble recovery. Junior Treycen Bownes had a third-quarter interception for Plainfield North.

Blazewski booted a 28-yard field goal midway through the first quarter and a 23-yarder midway through the second quarter.

“No one was perfect and there are things we have to clean up,” Czaer said. “But 1-0 is the best way to start a season.”