Jamal Johnson, AJ Henning lead Lincoln-Way East into Class 8A state title game

It’s a luxury most teams don’t enjoy — having a Big Ten recruit and being able to pick and choose when to use him.

So it is with Lincoln-Way East, which kept Michigan-bound receiver AJ Henning, the state’s top-ranked senior, mostly in reserve until late in the third quarter of Saturday’s Class 8A semifinal at Marist.

Then Henning scored two touchdowns in three possessions and the Griffins were on their way back to the state finals in DeKalb with a 24-7 win.

Junior running back Jamal Johnson carried the load most of the day for Lincoln-Way East (13-0), grinding out 175 yards on 28 carries and scoring on a 14-yard run in the first quarter.

“Jamal was just making so much happen early on, it was very hard for the defense to stop him,” Henning said. “So coach (Rob Zvonar) was ready to run the offense through him.”

But after defensive back Matt Kordas recovered a fumble for his second takeaway of the game, the Griffins struck quickly with Henning’s 15-yard catch setting up his own three-yard TD run.

That pushed the Griffins’ lead to 17-7, and Zvonar was ready to turn to his four-star recruit for the finishing touch.

“Going into the fourth quarter, I grabbed 3 (Henning) and said, ‘I need one from you,’” Zvonar said.

It came with 6:27 left in the game when Henning turned quarterback Kyle Quinn’s shovel pass into a 66-yard TD and a 24-7 lead.

“We run that play a lot,” Henning said. “It was really set up by the blocking on the perimeter. Max Tomczak made a great block on the outside for me to get a crease.”

Henning finished with three catches for 85 yards and 104 yards on 10 total touches.

“Jamal stepped up when (running back) Devon Williams went down and ... that’s tremendous to have the depth at that spot,” Zvonar said. “We can use AJ in other ways.”

Lincoln-Way East’s Kyle Quinn (2) and Kyle Wolszon (32) celebrate. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Sean McLaughlin (80) celebrates. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s AJ Henning (3) feels good after scoring a touchdown in the 4th quarter. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s AJ Henning (3) cuts and breaks a run for a touchdown. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Matt Kordas (7) celebrates his interception with Jalen Hacha (29). | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Dominic Dzioban (9) kicks off. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar celebrates. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Jamal Johnson (1) breaks a tackle and picks up a first down. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Kyle Quinn (2) looks for a receiver as he scrambles. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Kyle Quinn (2) stands in the pocket looking for a receiver. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Josh Vargas (4) intercepts a pass. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Josh Vargas (4) intercepts a pass. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s AJ Henning (3) breaks loose for a touchdown. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Jaron Hacha (97) gets congratulated after making a tackle against Marist. | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Sean McLaughlin battles against Marist’s Deuce McGuire (79). | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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Lincoln-Way East’s Zach Richter (41) and Adrian Wilson (8) tackle Marist’s Amari Watkins (28). | Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

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On the other side of the ball, Lincoln-Way East was plus-three in turnovers for the first time this season. Marist (8-5) was down 10-7 and driving for a potential go-ahead TD in the second quarter when Kordas picked off a Hayden Mikesell pass in the end zone.

Josh Vargas, playing with a torn labrum, added another interception in the fourth quarter to effectively seal the win.

“We knew we were the best defense in the state coming into this,” Kordas said. “We worked our butt off all week and we knew we were going to come out here and do our thing.”

Mikesell passed for 178 yards -- mostly to Brendan Barry (72 yards) and Carnell Tate (62 yards) -- and ran for 45 more. But the RedHawks didn’t score after Mikesell’s 27-yard TD pass to Barry on fourth-and-nine with 8:51 left in the second quarter.

Now it’s back to DeKalb for the Griffins and Henning, who ran for 154 yards and two TDs when Lincoln-Way East beat Loyola in the 2017 8A final.

“Last time we were there, I can still picture it perfectly in my mind,” Henning said. “We did special things on that field two years ago and we’re looking to do it again next week.”