Willowbrook 21, Proviso East 12

Willowbrook football coach Mark Olson uttered nearly every cliché in the book after his team's 21-12 victory over Proviso East on Friday night.

And he meant every one of them.

Olson stressed that his team would continue taking its season step-by-step, vowing not to look ahead on the schedule no matter who the week's opponent happened to be.

The Warriors had done just that, staying focused on the Pirates with next week's homecoming game against Downers Grove South looming.

The sharper Willowbrook focus comes as a change from last year.

"You can't jump ahead. I thought last year we did that," Olson said. "I think our approach this year has been … we go out day by day. Tomorrow we'll look at the film, then on Monday we'll come back and we'll start getting ready for Downers."

Willowbrook (3-0) should provide the Mustangs a serious test next week if its ground game gets anywhere near the production it got against Proviso East. The Warriors racked up 308 yards on the ground, led by senior running back Wayne Bolden's 142.

The rushing attack got the scoring started for Willowbrook on its second drive of the game, as Brandon Martinez capped a 52-yard march down the field to put the Warriors ahead 7-0.

Proviso East (1-2) crept within 1 point at the outset of the second quarter, thanks to Darnell Swanigan's 64-yard touchdown burst through the left side of the Warriors defense.

After Willowbrook took a 14-6 lead on a Bolden touchdown reception, Proviso East's Aljenard Pacheco returned an interception for a touchdown and left the Pirates down just 2 at halftime.

"We were a little frustrated, but we were like, 'We've got to get it together, because we don't play like that,' " Bolden said. "We know we can be good, and so we came out, had a good conversation in the locker room, came out and played hard and executed."

Warriors quarterback Kevin Pohl finished the game's scoring with a 3-yard sneak into the end zone, highlighting a problem Proviso East has seen already too often this season.

"That's traditionally been our kryptonite," Pirates coach Aaron Peppers said. "You've got to be able to stop the run. If you can't stop the run, you can't get on the field with your offense.

"We've got to get a lot better with that. Everybody knows their gap responsibilities, but we've just got to make tackles."