Addison Trail still has a shot

With their playoff hopes on the line, the Addison Trail Blazers needed a victory in Friday's West Suburban Gold tilt to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Host Morton Mustangs (1-6, 1-3) came out of the gates hot with senior Santino Novakowski returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

Addison Trail (3-4, 2-3) answered the score with a long touchdown of its own.

On a fourth-and-2 junior running back Nick D'Ambrose took the handoff, made a nice move to dodge a tackle and took the football to the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown run. That long run was the first of many Blazers touchdowns in a 47-28 Addison Trail win.

D'Ambrose had himself a day with 207 yards on 20 carries and 3 touchdowns while also adding 3 receptions for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"I think our offensive line executed very well," D'Ambrose said. "We came out a little sloppy in the first half, but we came out and executed in the second half. Our offensive line played well all game, our quarterback, Bobby (Daniels), controlled the offense, and I think we executed in all facets."

Morton tied the game at 21 at halftime, but the Blazers proved to be too much, outscoring the Mustangs 26-7 in the second half.

Daniels led the Blazers in the second half, making big passes on crucial downs to help move the sticks. Daniels finished the day with 13 completions on 18 attempts for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns while also adding a touchdown on the ground.

While its playoff hopes are still alive, Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet Jr. saw this game as an opportunity for his club to improve.

"We definitely still need to get better," Parpet said. "We have to continue to improve and figure out how to execute early. They ran the opening kickoff of the game back on us. However, we answered, and I was very proud of the way we came out and executed in the second half."

While the score may look a bit lopsided, the Mustangs showed some encouraging signs with junior and 2015 offensive conference player of the year Greg Hoard rushing for 139 yards on 28 carries and 3 touchdowns.

"It was back and forth. We have to make plays and we have to execute," said Morton coach Bob Organ. "Defensively, we have to make tackles, it's as simple as that. Offensively, we had opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of them."