Lincoln-Way East grinds out a win over Bolingbrook

BOLINGBROOK – Although this version of the Lincoln-Way East football team might not be as explosive as previous incarnations, one thing has clearly not changed.

The Griffins are not going to beat themselves, so if any opponent has any thoughts of knocking them off, they’d better not give Lincoln-Way East any extra opportunities.

Because when one does that, Lincoln-Way East seems to always make the opponent pay.

The Griffins did it again against host Bolingbrook on Friday night, seizing the few opportunities that came their way in a real defensive struggle to claim a 21-13 victory.

“We’re a little inconsistent, but we’re improving,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “To come over here with a little bit younger group and battle these guys, and I was proud of our group for capitalizing on a turnover early.”

The win lifts Lincoln-Way East’s record to 4-1 on the season, while Bolingbrook drops to the same mark. Although early, the win also puts Lincoln-Way East in the driver’s seat for yet another conference crown.

The game appeared to be turning into a real defensive tussle early. Neither team did much of anything in a scoreless first quarter before a few cracks started to appear in the Bolingbrook defensive front.

Early in the second quarter, Jack Tremblay got loose in the secondary for a 37-yard gain, which accounted for Lincoln-Way East’s first real invasion into Bolingbrook territory. The ground-and-pound offensive attack took over from there with James Kwiecinski powering in from 10-yards out to put the first points of the board.

[ Photos: Bolingbrook vs Lincoln-Way East football ]

In the haste of trying to answer what looked like it might be one of the game’s few scoring chances, Bolingbrook promptly fumbled the ball back to Lincoln-Way East. And when given those extra chances, Lincoln-Way East rarely whiffs. As such, Griffins quarterback Brennan Stolarek found Tremblay once again roaming free, and this time there was no one in his area to keep him from going 49 yards for the score.

With a 14-0 lead in hand, Lincoln-Way East was in great position considering how well its defense was playing. Bolingbrook, which has thrived on big plays, only had three offensive plays from scrimmage go for 10-plus yards, with the high-water mark coming on a 21-yard reception by Kyan Berry-Johnson.

But Bolingbrook took advantage of a rare Lincoln-Way East lapse when it didn’t convert a fourth-and-short inside its own territory early in the third quarter. The Raiders took over and utilized that big-play ability to pick up 37 yards on a reception by standout I’Marion Stewart. One play later, Howard crashed in from 2 yards to trim the Lincoln-Way East lead to 14-7.

Lincoln-Way East, however, had a potent countermove by placing wide receiver Tre Johnson in the backfield. Johnson had no carries in the first half, but immediately ripped of a 49-yard gain, and after three more Johnson carries, sandwiched by a pass interference penalty, Lincoln-Way East was back in the end zone on a 9-yard jaunt from Johnson. He would finish with 115 yards on 15 carries.

“I’ve been getting practice reps all week, so I was ready for it,” Johnson said. “It’s a great opportunity for me, I’d never done it before, but I liked it. It was fun back there.”

With the two-touchdown lead restored, Lincoln-Way East’s defense continued to make life difficult for the Raiders. Bolingbrook got no offensive momentum going until it scored with 1.4 seconds remaining in the contest on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Daniel Cabral.

“We gave up yards, and we’ve never had the philosophy of bend and don’t break, but we’ve bent a little bit this year,” Zvonar said of his defense. “And we may not have that group that has the big defensive numbers, but we’re going to compete and play every series. And that’s fine.”