Willowbrook wins in the trenches

Faced with a rain-soaked playing surface that resembled a 100-yard-long vat of chocolate pudding, it was no surprise that Friday night's West Suburban Gold visit by Willowbrook to Hinsdale South would be won in the trenches. And after more than 42 minutes of scoreless football, it was Willowbrook offensive linemen Josh Rochel, Kyle Guare, Kevin Carroll, Anthony Soto and Randy Francek who earned the plaudits in a 7-0 defeat of the Hornets.

In a drive that only seemed to last as long and cover as much territory as the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Warriors (3-5, 3-3) took possession of the ball on their own 36 with 3 minutes, 11 seconds to play in the third quarter. Sixty-four yards and 9 minutes, 33 seconds later, on the 17th straight running play of the drive, James Bolden swept around right end from 5 yards out for the game-winning score.

"We wanted to hit hard every single play and we just went out and got it done," said Rochel, who was covered head-to-toe in mud after the contest. "We kept it together as a team and put it together at the right time."

Indeed, on Willowbrook's 24 other offensive plays in the game - all runs - they totaled just 44 yards, 20 less than they gained on their lone scoring march.

"There wasn't much decision-making as far as the game plan," said Warriors coach Mark Olson with a chuckle. "It was a good day to be a lineman, just get off the ball and block people - good, old-fashioned football."

The Warriors did have to survive a last-gasp drive by the Hornets (1-7, 1-4) to escape with the win. Hinsdale South quarterback Kevin Miller notched 6 of his 7 completions in the game on the final drive and also hauled in a 20-yard pass from backup QB Jackson Panice, as the Hornets moved to the Warriors' 14 with eight seconds to play. Willowbrook survived the first snap from there when Steven Frobel broke up a pass in the end zone. Sean Dunn then picked off Panice's pass on the game's final play.

Miller was the only player who had any consistent success negotiating the treacherous field as his combined rushing, passing and receiving yardage accounted for 186 of the game's 305 yards of total offense.

The Hornets did have three deep drives into Warriors territory in the first half, but with the kicking game a non-factor, they were forced to go for it on fourth down each time, failing in short-yardage situations from the 22, 20 and 10.

"I thought maybe a turnover or a bad snap on a punt might be the difference," said Hinsdale South coach Alex Bitto. "I didn't expect them to push it in on us, but we gave them everything; our defense was on the field the entire second half."

It was small consolation at game's end for Bitto and his squad, but the contest was also the swan song for Hinsdale South's natural-grass field; it will be replaced by a FieldTurf surface in time for the 2010 season.