Lake Park earns more doughnuts with win vs. WW South
By the end of the football season, Billy Liapis and the Lake Park football team hope coach Chris Roll racks up quite a tab at Keans Bakery in Itasca.
Not that Roll will mind too much.
"Every time we win we get doughnuts Saturday morning," the senior center said. "(It's) a little more incentive to win."
Roll will make his second trip to Keans Bakery in as many weeks after the Lancers scored 21 unanswered points to down Wheaton Warrenville South 21-14 in a DuPage Valley Conference game.
"I will gladly go broke to celebrate hard wins in the DVC," Roll said. "It's the best bakery in the whole stinking suburbs and they are not cheap."
It was a complete effort for the Lancers (2-0, 2-0) to notch the win and their doughnuts.
Trailing 14-0 with 3 minutes, 53 seconds in the first half, the Lancers needed a jolt. The Lake Park offense provided it.
The Lancers marched the ball 65 yards in 11 plays. Quarterback Jackson Behles found Diamante Smith on a 3-yard pass to cut the deficit in half.
"(Coach) said we're going to find that one score and eventually we're going to keep rolling," Liapis said. "We did find that one score and we went into the half and it started clicking."
On their first possession of the second half, the Lancers looked to be stalled. Facing a third and 13 from the Tigers' 47, Behles stepped back to pass. He was flushed out of the pocket, took a few steps forward and launched the ball into the end zone, finding Johnny Pacione open to tie the game.
"Jackson just legged it out," Roll said. "He's got good vision. He just dragged it out long enough to make sure someone be open and found Johnny."
It was a crushing play for the Tigers.
"Disappointed for the kids because they had them in third and fourth down and forever and they made the plays," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch said. "It's just inexcusable.
But the Tigers (0-2, 0-2) weren't out yet. After going three-and-out Wheaton Warrenville South's Jake Healy ended the Lancers drive, intercepting the ball in the end zone.
"I believed we could (pull it off)," wide receiver Chase Stebbins said.
The Tigers went on a drive of their own. Wheaton Warrenville South drove the ball 71 yards and faced a second-and-6 from the Lancers' 9-yard line.
But Perrion Winfrey made a play similar to one last week. Winfrey stripped the ball and took it back to the Lancers 23.
"We were surprised," defensive lineman Isaac Moore said. "I didn't even see it happen. When Perrion had it, I was just going crazy."
Two possessions later, the Lancers completed the comeback.
Facing a third-and-4 from the Tigers 38, Behles ran an option keeper 31 yards to the 7. Two plays later, David Kirkpatrick-Hardwick scored from a yard out.
"We had confidence going into that drive," Liapis said. "But right when we got to the 7-yard line, we knew we could get it in with our toughness."