Woodstock breaks through with first win of year, toppling La Salle-Peru

WOODSTOCK – The word of the week for the Woodstock football team was ‘breakthrough’.

The Blue Streaks believed if they could put together a complete game on offense, defense, and special teams against La Salle-Peru they could break through with their first victory of the season. The phrase became reality in a 17-14 homecoming victory over the visiting Cavaliers.

“We were positive all week, we hadn’t put our heads down, we were ready to go tonight, and we executed tonight and it all paid off,” Woodstock senior lineman Andrew Ryan said.

Both teams had impressive opening drives in the Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 White game. The Cavaliers (3-3, 1-2 KRC/I-8 White) marched 84 yards on 10 plays to score on their first possession of the game, as quarterback Brendan Boudreau hit Seth Adams with a 35-yard touchdown pass.

The Streaks answered, with Max Miller capping a 16-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The second quarter looked similar to the first. Boudreau threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Noah Zebron, and Woodstock matched that with another Miller touchdown run, this one from 7 yards to make it 14-14 at halftime.

The Woodstock defense bent, but didn’t break, especially in the second half. The Streaks (1-5, 1-3) forced two turnovers on downs and limited L-P to a total of 16 plays in the second half.

“Our defense had a good game plan, and we had stopped them a couple of times in the second half and had an interception earlier in the game, they held in there all night long,” Woodstock coach Mike Brasile said. Ryan had a sack for the Streaks, Daniel Bychowski had an interception, and Zach Canady had two tackles for loss.

Offensively, Miller carried the load for Woodstock. The senior had 140 yards on 27 carries in addition to the two touchdowns.

“We had a nice mix of plays, running both inside and outside and the line was amazing today,” Miller said. “We had fire in our eyes tonight and we’ve been working really hard since the beginning of the season and it finally paid off tonight.”

Woodstock’s special teams also came through in the clutch. Kicker Deron Gjoni hit a 28- yard field goal to put the Streaks up for good late in the fourth quarter.

“I had to step up tonight and just wanted to help the team,” Woodstock kicker Deron Gjoni said. “It felt good coming off my foot and it was a perfect time to hit my first field goal of the season.”

While the Cavaliers had moments throughout the game of getting in a groove, they had trouble sustaining it.

“We moved the ball a little, but we just weren’t able to make the plays today, and we had some mental errors, and you just can’t do that,” L-P coach Jose Medina said.

The Cavaliers were led by Adams with 73 yards on seven catches and a touchdown, and Noah Zebron had eight catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Boudreau was 19-of-26 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and Brady Romagnoli had 69 yards rushing.