Proviso East outlasts Addison Trail
Twice Saturday afternoon it appeared Addison Trail would be able to use its high-octane ground game in the fourth quarter to escape Maywood with a win against Proviso East.
Twice the Blazers fumbled deep in Pirates territory, including a turnover on the Proviso East 2-yard line, as the Pirates upset Addison Trail 28-24 in a West Suburban Gold meeting.
Despite rushing for 304 yards, ironically, the Blazers' rushing attack spelled their doom.
Leading 24-20 with just more than four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Addison Trail (2-3, 2-1) recovered a Proviso East fumble and began a drive at its own 46-yard line. The Blazers marched 53 yards in seven minutes and seemed ready to put Proviso East away with a first-and-goal situation at the Pirates' 1-yard line.
After a pair of Frank Cervantes rushes backed the Blazers to the 2, the Blazers fumbled, one of four Blazers' fumbles overall.
The Pirates (1-4, 1-1) spent the next 4:30 mounting a 91-yard touchdown drive, capped by William Crowder's 18-yard floater to University of Illinois-bound Corey Cooper.
"We had the game, and we kind of blew it for ourselves," sophomore quarterback Anthony Catanese said. "Got to hang onto the ball in the red zone."
Still, Addison Trail had a chance to come back and take the lead. On second-and-9 from the Pirates' 40, Catanese eluded a sack and found junior Anthony Beltrano for a 16-yard completion to set the Blazers up at the 24-yard line, but again the Blazers lost the football, and the Pirates again recovered, keeping the ball on the ground and running out the clock.
"I feel like we bit ourselves," Cervantes said. "We had the ball twice inside the 5-yard line and fumbled it twice in there, and we can't do that.
"I'm going to sleep with the football tonight."
Addison Trail continued to rush the ball effectively in the second half yet could not convert yardage to points.
"We still ran the ball pretty well, but you've just got to protect the football," Blazers coach Paul Parpet said.
Cervantes suggested another problem.
"I think we just got lazy and we just didn't finish up," he said. "We usually start off slow and finish up fast.
"I guess we started off too fast."