Joliet Central gave up the football three times in the first seven minutes of its game against Sandburg en route to a 51-6 loss Saturday afternoon.
“That’s been pretty much the story of the season,” Central coach Brett Boyter said. “Until these guys start taking care of the ball in traffic or when contact is coming, we’ll have the same results. We’re fighting for extra yaerds but you still have to take care of the ball.”
Joliet Central (0-6, 0-4) is in its third year since the Joliet Township athletic program split back to two teams and is winless in 24 games. They have been outscored 133-12 by the Eagles in those three seasons.
The Eagles dominated early, when senior safety Brendan Conlon picked up two fumbles and senior linebacker CJ Brucki recovered another and the Eagles (5-1, 3-1) took a 28-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter.
“Everyone swarmed to the ball and everyone gang tackled and tried to rip it out of their hands,” Conlon said. “This was a big change from last week. No one likes to lose. Today we got some breaks.”
The Eagles used three quarterbacks and 12 different players carried the ball.
Junior quarterback Sean Leland was 10-for-17 for 117 yards and one touchdown to Justin Joy in the first half.
Senior running back Lemonte Booker, who had 100 or more yards in the first four games only to be held to 69 yards by LWE, had 68 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 38 yards in a quarter and a half of action. Matt Helmich and Jim Hill each ran in two touchdowns while Bobby Krop added a rushing score.
Central’s lone score Saturday came when Joshua Keiser blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone.
