The Herald-News Football Notebook: Big performances, big victories highlight Week 1 across area

Lincoln-Way East has a football program that thrives on regimen.

But the game plan before the Griffins’ eventual 52-12 victory was thrown a wildcard when L-W East’s originally scheduled Thursday evening game against Chicago Kenwood was moved to Saturday morning.

“From a professional standpoint, it was a real challenging week,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “It’s not the end of the world to get your football game pushed back two days, but we started our work week Monday thinking we were going to play Thursday. So we’re out there with tough physical practices Monday and Tuesday, all to find out we’re gonna play not just one day later but two days later.”

Not sure how to make an adjustment, Zvonar and his staff went to something they’d learned from seeing the routine of the University of Iowa. Longtime assistant Joel Pallisard’s son, Turner, recently completed his time at Iowa and noticed a deviation from the norm that the Hawkeyes use that might work for the Griffins.

“So we kind of sold the kids that we came up with a perfect plan. We had no idea,” Zvonar said. “We took advantage of something from the University of Iowa. They don’t practice on Thursday. They did some all kinds of sports psychology thing that shows the benefits.

“We figured we’ve got nothing to lose. Let’s try it. We didn’t go out to the field Thursday. I’m not sure we would have been able to anyway with the heat, but we sold it to the kids that this was going to be the perfect plan.

“And had we got beat today, it would have been the worst plan, but it worked in our favor.”

• Steve Soucie

Irish victory snaps long skid vs. Wildcats

Seneca’s Week 1 win over old Interstate 8 Conference foe Wilmington wasn’t a shocking upset – in fact, Friday Night Drive correctly called a Fighting Irish victory in our Week 1 preview – but like Seneca’s shutout of Iroquois West last season, it opened eyes across the state.

It also snapped a long losing streak for the Fighting Irish against the powerhouse Wildcats.

Prior to Friday night, the two teams hadn’t met on a football field since 2017. Seneca left the I-8 for the Sangamon Valley Conference in 2018-19 and remained in different variations of that league until helping form the Chicagoland Prairie Conference this season.

Seneca had lost to Wilmington the previous 16 meetings, the last Seneca victory coming Oct. 12, 2001, in a 25-7 triumph, which all but clinched the I-8 title that season and also secured a fourth-consecutive playoff spot.

• Brian Hoxsey & J.T. Pedelty

Minooka’s defensive dominance

The Minooka defense gave Rock Island precious little time to throw Friday night.

The Indians recorded six quarterback sacks by Tristian Parish, Cayden Garcia, Hunter Coons, Micah Hamilton and Carson Johnson, with the final sack being a combined effort of three players.

Rock Island managed just 165 total yards on the night. Parish recovered a fumble, Garcia had an interception, and Efrein Ramirez blocked a field goal.

• Rob Oesterle

JCA racks up miles, yardage

Google Maps has the drive from Joliet Catholic Academy to Bates Field in Iowa City as a three-hour, 195-mile one-way trip.

The Hilltoppers made the trek Friday to open the 2023 season against Iowa City, then put on a 48 minute, 488 yard offensive performance to start the year with a 48-13 victory over Iowa City High.

HJ Grigsby (207 yards, three rushing touchdowns) led the ground attack – one that churned up 374 yards – which will be tested Friday night for a game much closer to home. It’s homecoming, in fact, against Providence Catholic.

Quarterback Andres Munoz added 114 yards and three passing TDs for JCA, which led 14-0 after one quarter and put together another 14-0 quarter in the third to pull away.

• J.T. Pedelty

First carry sets tone for L-W West’s Abubakar

Lincoln-Way West sophomore Jahan Abubakar said he was feeling some jitters when his first varsity game started Friday night.

Abubakar quickly shook them off, running for 107 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries in the Warriors’ 41-7 home win over Plainfield Central.

It all started with a 14-yard run on his first varsity carry.

“On my first big run all the nerves left my body,” Abubakar said. “It was phenomenal. I’m just so grateful to be on the Lincoln-Way West Warriors.”

Abubakar had touchdown runs of 19 and 50 yards, setting the tone for his first varsity season.

“It gives me so much belief, and it makes me want to reach new heights,” he said.

• Steve Millar

Who needs offense?

The Lockport offense had a rough time in its season debut Friday at Plainfield North, but it didn’t stop the Porters from bringing home a 14-8 victory.

Drew Gallagher’s 92 yards passing and 30 yards rushing were team highs, with Tanner Benaitis’ 57 yards receiving on two catches accounting for 35.8% of Lockport’s 159 yards from scrimmage.

Lockport’s special teams and defense made up for the offense’s struggles – kicker Nate Blazewski had field goals from 28 and 23 yards out, returner Johnny Wesolowski with a key kickoff return and defensive lineman Ryan Kutz with a pair of sacks and an early tackle for loss.

“There was no surprise on defense,” Lockport coach George Czart said. “We had guys answer the call.”

• J.T. Pedelty