December 22, 2024
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Dominic West comes on in relief, rallies Downers Grove South to win at Willowbrook

West runs for TD, throws for one, Kayden Smith rushes for 149 yards in 18-16 win

By Scott Schmid - for Shaw Local News Network
Downers Grove South's Kayden Smith runs the ball for a gain as Willowbrook's Hayden Roscoe looks to run him out of bounds on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in Villa Park.

Downers Grove South's Kayden Smith runs the ball for a gain as Willowbrook's Hayden Roscoe looks to run him out of bounds on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in Villa Park. (Karen Naess for Shaw Local News Network)

VILLA PARK – Down 10 points on the road, Downers Grove South needed a spark.

Dominic West provided it and much more.

Coming on in relief after starting quarterback Aidan Kanazawa was shaken up on a hit, West led the Mustangs to a come-from-behind 18-16 West Suburban Gold conference win over Willowbrook in Villa Park.

West scored on a 1-yard run on the final play of the third quarter to pull the visitors to within 10-6.

The lefty connected with Keon Maggit Jr. for a 10-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal to give Downers South (2-2, 1-0) the lead for good with 7:45 remaining.

”When coach said warm up, I knew it was my time to shine,” said West, who finished 6-of-9 through the air for 131 yards after entering late in the first half. “But it wasn’t me, it was the whole team. This is a great win to build off and hopefully we keep rolling into next week.”

Kayden Smith had 149 rushing yards on 29 carries, scoring on a 55-yard jaunt to the end zone with 4:37 left to make the score 18-10.

”I would use the work resilient,” Smith said. “There were a bunch of times in that game where we could have lost focus. There were a bunch of points where we could have folded but we didn’t. That’s a really big win. It means a lot to win this game.”

Willowbrook's Jahonise Reed throws for a gain against Downers Grove South on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in Villa Park.

Willowbrook's Jahonise Reed throws for a gain against Downers Grove South on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in Villa Park. (Karen Naess for Shaw Local News Network)

Maggit Jr. caught six passes for 70 yards and also made a game-saving tackle on the Warriors’ attempt at a game-tying two-point conversion after Willowbrook (1-3, 0-1) scored with 2:27 left.

Cameron Kasper had four receptions for 83 yards for Downers South.

”We couldn’t have played any worse in the first half,” Downers South coach Mark Molinari said. “But our defense played tough and kept us in it and Dominic came in and led the way. He’s a senior, been with us for four years. Congratulations to him.”

The Warriors got a 47-yard field goal from Dean Romano and an 85-yard TD pass from Jahonise Reed to Jordan Pate to lead 10-0 at halftime. Reed found Pate again, this time for a 20-yard score, before the potential tying two-point conversion. Pate had four catches for 107 yards and Reed threw for 211 yards.

”I told our team, we are sitting here at 1-3 and we are a handful of plays away from being 4-0,” Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth said. “They did a good job of eating up drives and time and we could never get into an offensive tempo.”