Little things make a difference in West Chicago loss

Paul Reinke's career as a head football coach began Friday night, but after he watched his West Chicago Wildcats drop a 36-7 decision at Plainfield North, he had a lament that a coach working his 1,000th game would have been proud of:

"We just didn't do the little things," he said. "We didn't take care of the football, didn't have good pad level and didn't tackle. They executed and we didn't."

Two of those little things came in the game's first eight minutes as West Chicago's first two possessions ended in a lost fumble and snap that sailed over punter Leo Bartyzel's head. That meant that the Tigers (1-0) needed to travel only a total of 60 yards for their first two touchdowns of the season, courtesy of 18- and 3-yard runs by Kapri Bibbs.

Bibbs and his backfield mate Devonta Davis would be a pair of thorns in the Wildcats' sides all night on the soggy, slick field as they combined for 318 rushing yards on 41 carries and all 5 Plainfield North touchdowns.

"It's nice to grind it out, chew up the clock and keep them off the field, and on a night like this, that's key," said Plainfield North coach Tim Kane. "They're both very good running backs, very talented and run with speed, but tonight they showed the power game and the most impressive thing was that they really blocked for each other and got after it."

Bibbs' third touchdown of the opening half, this one a 15-yard run, gave the Tigers a 21-0 halftime. Any suspense was then erased on the first play of the second half when Davis swept 60 yards for a touchdown, his longest gain on a night when he totaled a career-high 195 yards.

"Kapri just kicked out the linebacker, I saw daylight and ran," Davis said. "I'm proud of our offensive line and Kapri, he blocks for me, I block for him, it doesn't matter who scores as long as we win."

Reinke got a glimpse of what his offense is capable of midway through the third quarter when Brad Wilson sprinted 52 yards for West Chicago's only score. The Wildcats (0-1) did have another scoring opportunity when they turned a fumble recovery by Christian Simanonis at midfield into a trip to the Tigers 3, but a failed fourth-down play ended the chance. Davis then closed the scoring by capping a 94-yard, 16-play drive with his second trip to paydirt, this time a 1-yard plunge with six minutes to play.