Andrew Zook, dominant Yorkville ‘D’ do a number on Plainfield Central

YORKVILLE – Andrew Zook threw a numerical curveball with his jersey and helmet combination Friday.

Zook, Yorkville’s senior defensive lineman, wore a No. 73 jersey. His usual No. 34, where he is listed on the Foxes’ roster, was on his helmet.

“Sometimes I have to play offensive line, so I wear No. 73,” Zook said. “It just depends on the game.”

[ Photos: Yorkville vs. Plainfield Central ]

As always, though, Zook and the Foxes’ defense brought the heat.

Yorkville allowed just one first down in the first half of Friday’s game with Plainfield Central, and that came on a roughing the punter penalty. The Foxes went on to surrender 51 total yards and five first downs for the game, and rode that dominant defensive effort to a 27-0 Southwest Prairie Conference crossover win over the visiting Wildcats.

“We just didn’t want to give up any yards,” Zook said. “Just come out, smack ‘em, play as hard as we can. We just played our butts off, make ‘em want to quit. Everyone did their job and locked down.”

Yorkville’s has the makings of a defense that could carry the Foxes to new heights this season. The Foxes returned their front seven intact from what was already a strong defense last year, anchored by a big nasty defensive line of Colorado State recruit Andrew Laurich, Jake Davies, Zook and 330-pound Amani Kortie.

So far, that front seven is as good as advertised.

Yorkville has shut out its first two opponents. The Foxes had three sacks Friday, one each from Zook, Laurich and Ben Alvarez, and played a near flawless first half with minus 22 yards allowed and six three-and-outs. Laurich set the tone with a sack for a huge loss to end Plainfield Central’s first series.

The Foxes (2-0) added a turnover to boot in the final minutes of the game.

“As long as our defense plays well, we’re going to be in every ballgame,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “We know that it starts with them. I just think that for some of them it’s their second and third time around in varsity football. You can tell the game is starting to slow down for them in terms of making adjustments on the fly. Instead of being happy stopping teams for a two or three-yard gain, now they can read things on the fly and hopefully get some tackles for loss.”

Yorkville got on the board the play after Laurich’s sack, as sophomore Luke Zook blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. Gio Zeman, who ran for 78 of his 86 yards in the first half, made it 13-0 on a 10-yard TD run with 9:05 left in the second quarter.

That score came on a short field, as did Michael Dopart’s 11-yard TD pass to Blake Kersting in the final minute of the first half for a 20-0 halftime lead. All three Yorkville scoring drives, in fact, started past midfield.

Plainfield Central (0-2) had its most successful drive out of halftime, Colby Williams running for 15 yards and Chase Vayda completing a 32-yard pass to James Kulekowskis. But it stalled at the Yorkville 30 as Andrew Zook sacked Vayda on fourth down.

“Proud of our defense how they battled. They were on the field a lot and kept us in the game as long as they could,” Wildcats coach Robert Keane said. “Yorkville has at least two Division I kids on that defense. That’s a quality front that’s going to give a lot of teams struggles down the road.”

Offensively, Yorkville played three quarterbacks in the first half, with junior Michael Dopart and senior Kyle Stevens at times rotating in the same series. Several of the Foxes’ defensive stalwarts, like Laurich, Davies, Andrew Zook, Kersting and Alvarez got in on offense as Yorkville presented multiple and varied looks.

Dopart did most of the throwing of the quarterbacks, completing 11-of-20 passes for 116 yards. He finished it off with a 22-yard TD pass to Dominick Coronado in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Isaiah Brown had six catches.

“This feels great. Our team has put in a lot of work and it’s all clicking together,” Dopart said. “That touchdown to Blake, I didn’t even see him, I just threw it up. It’s amazing. I’ve been doing it my whole life, doing this is a dream come true. Me and Kyle, it’s a good relationship. When he goes in I cheer him on, when I go in he cheers me on.”