Deerfield storms past MaineWest
The players from their respective squads entered a sloppy, waterlogged natural grass turf, to see who would win the Central Suburban North football battle of the Warriors.
Maine West would fall 48-0 to visiting Deerfield in Des Plaines.
The rain poured down, which made it a game of slippery field position. On the second play of the game, Deerfield (3-2) senior quarterback Matt Healy connected on a 44-yard shovel pass to running back Wilson Derleth.
The game became a struggle because of fumbles by both offenses and penalties by Deerfield, in which no one could capitalize.
Since the Maine West (1-4) defense showed its relentlessness on the rush defense, Deerfield changed its game plan.
"They had a nice scheme with stopping the run, so we started get comfortable with the pass," said Deerfield coach Steve Winiecki, "The shovel is our bread and butter play. Healy has a lot of weapons offensively and it gives us an opportunity for a win when we get it in our playmaker's hands."
Midway through the second quarter, the rain stopped, and Deerfield turned on its offensive arsenal. Deerfield gained a lot of yardage with the shovel/option play.
Healy (16-for-27, 311 yards) would connect a Hail Mary with senior wide receiver Nate Scheck (5 catches, 134 yards) for 40 yards to the 1.
On the next play, Deerfield would enter the end zone with 2:41 left in the first half. Deerfield scored on two consecutive possessions going into the second half.
"We hit a rhythm in the second quarter," said Scheck, "Matt [Healy] stays confident, which makes us make plays, especially when we weren't clicking early in the game.
"Coach [Winiecki] talked a lot about responding. He used the saying 'wipe the blood off your face,' comparing it to boxing."
Maine West junior running back Calvin Williams had some success on the ground, but not enough to reach the end zone.
"They outplayed us in every way," said Maine West coach Chris Hare, "The 'D' was ready to play, but the offense couldn't get it going, when they were doing well the first couple of series.
"That's my fault. We're going to keep on trying to salvage [the season]."