Blazers can't overcome mistake-filled first half

Special-teams miscues in the first half spelled doom on Friday for host Addison Trail, which put 22 points on the board in the second half but fell to Proviso East, 44-22.

The visiting Pirates put 30 points on the board before halftime, mainly on Blazers' mistakes in the West Suburban Gold matchup.

"You can't do that," said Blazers coach Paul Parpet. "You can't give away points like that."

Blazers fumbles, bad snaps and a long kickoff return for a touchdown by Proviso East (3-1, 2-0) put the hosts in a hole they couldn't negotiate, despite a pair of second-half touchdown runs from Mike D'Ambrose and 155 passing yards pulled in by Adam Grow in the fourth quarter from quarterback Erik Janik.

Grow also hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

"The positive was that there was no quit. We continued to play," Parpet said. "I wanted to see the true color of these guys in the second half, and they showed character."

"We had a motivational speech at halftime, and it got us going," D'Ambrose said. "We pulled together as a team and had some fun.

"And our defense didn't really give up much. We just made a few mistakes on special teams, and that was the difference."

Addison Trail fell to 1-3 overall, 1-1 in the WSG.