Vana, Maine West too much for Round Lake

Maine West senior Charlie Vana is getting the chance to start at running back after playing defense the last three years.

He's running with it.

In his second game as a starter, Vana rushed for 162 yards and scored 2 touchdowns to lead the visiting Warriors past Round Lake 35-13 in a nonconference football game Friday night.

Maine West evened its record at 1-1, while Round Lake fell to 0-2.

"The line made it easy for me," Vana said. "All I had to do was find the holes."

Vana started the game with 6 straight carries for 60 yards and capped a scoring drive with a 12-yard sweep for Maine West's first touchdown.

"Vana is one of the fastest players on the team," Warriors coach Chris Hare said. "He's a great kid, a hard worker, and if he has an opportunity, he's taking advantage of it."

Maine West's defense was outstanding, holding Round Lake to only 22 rushing yards in the first half.

On the Warriors' next possession, Vana was at it again, leading a 56-yard drive that ended with quarterback Ron Gajeweski scoring from 6 yards out to give the Warriors a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

Vana added a 10-yard TD run, and five minutes later, Kelvin Williams scored the Warriors' fourth touchdown on a 35-yard reverse.

Maine West tackle Christian Nunez then got the defense into the act by recovering a fumble and returning it 25 yard for a touchdown, hiking Maine West's lead to 35-0 at halftime.

"We played a great first half," Hare said. "We didn't play a great second half, and our goal is to play a complete game. We got the running game started from the get-go and the offensive line played a great game."

Round Lake finally made it to the scoreboard as Edgar Rivera scored from 1 yard out with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter. Nick Olson also scored from a yard out for the Panthers.

"We regrouped and made a few adjustments in the second half," Round Lake coach John Coursey said. "We are still struggling and are confused on defense. I don't know if I gave them a little bit too much, but we just didn't execute on defense."