While Friday’s conditions were downright nasty with cold temperatures and a vicious wind, Lincoln-Way West just didn’t care.
The host Warriors rolled to a convincing 28-0 win over Morgan Park in New Lenox in a Class 6A first round game.
“The weather didn’t matter because we knew coming in it would be cold,” Lincoln-Way West lineman Justin Witt said. “We played past it, tried not to worry about it. This one means a lot, hopefully starting us off with how good we’ll do in the playoffs.”
Lincoln-Way West (9-1) will face the winner of Saturday’s Richards-Oak Forest game in the second round next week.
With a stiff wind limiting both teams passing attacks it was the Warriors’ run game that set the tone in the second half, especially on the opening drive.
Marching 80 yards downfield, Lincoln Way-West ran 10 plays with Gabe Montalvo rushing in eight of the 10. It was Montalvo punching in the score with a nine-yard rush to give Lincoln-Way West the early 14-0 advantage.
“I couldn’t have done it without my linemen, just running into giant holes,” Montalvo said. “Our job is easy. We try to wear down defenses. We knew we had to get some scores to put them away and set the tone for the second half.”
Adam Knerr (12 rushes, 89 yards) rushed for two second half scores, two and five yards respectively. Montalvo finished with 164 rushing yards on 24 carries with the Warriors rushing for 273 total yards.
Quarterback Connor Lowman rushed for a five-yard score in the first quarter.
“My job is really easy with this line,” Montalvo said with a smile. “I just have to run behind the block.”
Morgan Park (6-4) was led by quarterback Jermaine Anderson who ran 20 times for 68 yards and finished 4-of-10 passing for 57 yards. Darius Burse rushed 14 times for 97 yards.
The Mustangs had a prime opportunity to tie the game midway through the second quarter, driving all the way to the West one-yard line.
A stiff Warriors defense was having none of it, a gang of tacklers stopping Anderson to force a turnover on downs.
“That was just desire, us wanting to stop them with nothing else to it,” West lineman Nick Trolian said. “That’s what we had to do. This is our season, and that’s how it works. You make plays like that and you can put the team down and go up from there.”
A constant presence in the Morgan Park backfield, Trolian finished with four sacks.
