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PLAINFIELD – One team dominated in the first half and the other controlled the second half. That was the story line for Friday’s clash between rivals Plainfield North and Plainfield East in the debuts of their new head coaches, Anthony Imbordino with the Tigers and Brad Kunz with the Bengals.
After North went up 28-0 at halftime, East scored the next 20 points to add some drama, but the host Tigers responded with a late score of their own to wrap up a 35-20 victory, which was their sixth in a row in the series.
Marcellus Moore scored three touchdowns and accounted for 195 yards of total offense, Nate Simpson rushed for 138 yards on 29 carries, and Adam Smith went 9-for-15 for 170 yards and two touchdowns passes to Moore while running for another score.
“There were a lot of good things that went on and we started off real well and hopefully this sets the tone for the season,” Moore said.
North’s new head coach not only liked his team’s fast start but also how they finished.
“We saw a little adversity, which is good to have in Week 1, and we battled back and it could have gone one or two ways,” Imbordino said. “Plainfield East did a heck of a job by battling back and their coaches made good adjustments in the second half.”
East suffered a tough blow early when one of its top players, Brian Tape, left with an injury. And then just 3:03 in, the Tigers got their first score on a 19-yard sweep by Moore (5-129 receiving, 6-66 rushing).
North grabbed a 14-0 lead with 10:24 remaining in the second quarter when Smith snuck in from two yards out. With 6:10 left in that quarter, he tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Moore and then the pair connected on a 75-yard strike with 1:13 to go before for the break.
“I have to give it to my line since they pretty much protected me for the whole game,” Smith said. “We did a great job in the first half, but need to keep it going throughout the second half.”
East got on the board 1:18 after the break when Taven Washington picked up a fumble and took it three yards for a score. The Bengals pulled to within 28-20 during a span of less than three minutes in the fourth quarter on a 17- yard pass from Joey Morgan (12-for-25, 166 yards) to Connor Bright (5-68 receiving) and a 12-yarder to Aiden Tonarelli (4-80).
The Tigers finally wrapped things up with a 21-yard run by Joshua Stiffend with 1:24 left. And although he didn’t score, Simpson was a huge part of North’s success.
“They came back and that’s a learning lesson,” Simpson said. “But we fought when it was important and our line pushed and I put my head down and got the yards that we needed.”
The Bengals’ new coach definitely liked the grit that his team displayed.
“When you lose one of your better players, it affects you,” Kunz said. “But we kind of took the blow and responded to that. When we came out in the second half, we weren’t going to give up and came out fighting and were ready and I think we grew a lot in that second half.”