DuPage football roundup: Week 2
There was no letdown for St. Viator.
Coming off a victory over cross-town rival Hersey, the Lions went to Benedictine University in Lisle on Saturday afternoon to play St. Francis.
Viator (2-0) scored on its first five possessions and cruised to a 49-28 nonconference victory.
St. Viator quarterback Eric Huber ran for an 11-yard TD on the Lions' opening possession and added one more score on the ground and two through the air as the visitors pounded away at the Spartans (1-1) with a great effort by the offensive line.
"We ran the ball a ton and the line played great," said Huber, who gained 75 yards on 9 runs and also passed for 154 yards, including a 64-yard score to Richard McLoughlin for a 21-0 lead at the start of the second quarter. "It's really a boost when you shut them down and score your first three times.
"It gets their morale down and it got us pumped up."
Spartans coach Greg Purnell didn't like the way his team played in the first half, which ended with St. Viator on top 35-7.
"We did not come ready to play," the first-year St. Francis coach said after suffering his first defeat. "I'll take the responsibility for that. We've got a lot of work to do and we've got to create some depth."
With the Lions' offensive line leading the way, Mike Landuyt ran through the Spartans defense for 152 yards and three scores and also hauled in a 15-yard TD pass from Huber in the second quarter.
"Our line played well. That's where it starts and ends," Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick said. "But I thought our first team defense played well. They gave up just one score and it was a missed tackle."
Trailing 28-0, the Spartans got on the board on the first of Stan Bobowski's touchdowns runs, a 2-yard dive.
Mark Kachmer and Bobowski had big second halves after the Lions began resting some of their defensive players with a big lead on the hot day. Bobowski, whose father Stan starred at St. Viator in the early 1970s, finished with 99 yards rushing, including a 55-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
"We all played really hard," Bobowski said. "We just need to work harder."
Willowbrook 35, Oak Park 14: Willowbrook scored 22 unanswered points, including 2 touchdown passes to Milton Colbert from Kevin Pohl, to defeat the West Suburban Conference crossover foe in Oak Park on Saturday.
Willowbrook (2-0) overcame a 7-6 deficit in the second quarter. Warriors quarterback Kevin Pohl scored his second touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run, then threw to the 6-foot-4 Colbert for the conversion to take a 14-7 lead.
Pohl threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Colbert just 19 seconds before halftime, then opened the third-quarter scoring with a 64-yard touchdown pass to the senior receiver.
Colbert, an all-area selection in basketball last season for the Warriors, should no longer fly under the radar on the gridiron.
"Last year he was a basketball player who played football," said Willowbrook coach Mark Olson. "This year he's a true football player."
Colbert, also a state-qualifying high jumper last spring, finished with 7 catches for 222 yards.
"Willowbrook pretty much handed it to us in the air," said Oak Park coach Jim Nudera. "We just could not stop Colbert. We missed tackles, he did what he wanted to."
Oak Park (1-1) drew within 21-14 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Levell Coppage at 8:35 of the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Willowbrook's Wayne Bolden returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that was the clincher.
Jason Tadlock led Willowbrook with 67 yards rushing. Pohl completed 12 of 16 passes for 260 yards.
Oak Park, which had 2 touchdowns called back due to penalty, was led by Coppage with 102 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, and 63 yards receiving.
After hitting Glenbard East with the ground game in its opener, Willowbrook caught Oak Park off balance with the Pohl-to-Colbert combination.
"They had to stack the box a little bit," Olson said, "and they definitely couldn't scheme all the time to double-team Milton as much as they wanted."
-- David Oberhelman