Plainfield North gets out early, often in 54-14 win over Plainfield East

PLAINFIELD — It didn’t take long for Plainfield North to set the tone in a season-opening 54-14 win over host Plainfield East in the annual Battle for 119th Street.

North’s Gerald Floyd sacked East quarterback Brandon Parades on the first play from scrimmage, and it was all Tigers after that. East had to punt on its first possession, giving North the ball at its own 42.

North’s Demir Ashiru connected with Braxton Bartz for an 18-yard gain, then passed for 8 more yards to Sean Schlanser. After Ashiru kept the ball for runs of 8 and 9 yards and a 2-yard rush by John St. Clair, Ashiru found Bartz in the end zone from 9 yards out. St. Clair’s kick made it 7-0.

The Tiger defense forced another three-and-out, but this time Nik Cardillo blocked the punt and recovered it at the East 10. On fourth-and-8, Ashiru hit Schlanser, who made a diving catch and stayed inbounds for an 8-yard TD and a 14-0 lead with 4:22 still to play in the first quarter.

“It was nice to have the defense set the tone,” Ashiru said. “When you only have 10 yards or so to go, it makes it a lot easier to score.

“Me and the receivers have been working since spring. They know the routes and I know where they are going to be.”

North’s Logan Rooney recovered a fumble at the East 20, setting the stage for an 11-yard TD run by St. Clair on fourth-and-1 for a 21-0 lead with 2:20 to go in the first.

“It was like Murphy’s Law,” East coach Brad Kunz said. “Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. We haven’t had a crowd this loud here. It was great to hear them, but we didn’t hear a couple of calls at the line of scrimmage and slid the protection the wrong way. Then we got a punt blocked, then a fumble. It was kind of an avalanche.”

The storm continued in the second quarter.

After an interception by North’s Jason O’Boye, Austin McCombs scored on a 5-yard run. A sack and forced fumble by North’s Anthony Galino, which was recovered by Rooney, set up a 1-yard sneak by Ashiru, who finished with 82 yards on 8-of-10 passing and ran six times for 78 yards and a score.

East was able to drive to the North 30 before turning it over on downs, only to see St. Clair (13 carries, 128 yards) take the first play 70 yards for a score. McCombs added a 6-yard TD later in the second quarter to give North a 48-0 halftime lead.

“We played well,” North coach Anthony Imbordino said. “The defense set the tone and gave the offense a short field. Our offensive line did a great job. Demir is a very under-the-radar quarterback, but people will know who he is soon enough. He throws it on a dime and is a great athlete.”

East was able to put up a pair of scores in the second half, one a 1-yard run by Armani McFerren after a North fumble, and the other a 58-yard burst by Quinn Callaghan.

“Our kids didn’t quit,” Kunz said. “It was good to see us put a couple of scores up after halftime. We are better than we showed tonight, and these kids will continue to get better. I am looking forward to seeing the improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.”