Waubonsie Valley ousted in first round
It wasn't football X's and O's that beat Waubonsie Valley on Friday night in Frankfort.
It was experience, Warriors coach Paul Murphy said after Lincoln-Way East's 35-17 first-round Class 8A playoff win.
No. 3 seed Lincoln-Way East, which led 35-3 entering the fourth quarter, has made the playoffs each of its eight seasons as a program, winning the 8A title in 2005.
Murphy noted a difference between that juggernaut and his 14th-seeded Warriors.
"They played with a heck of a lot more confidence, I thought, than we did," Murphy said. "I thought we were having success, but usually when we have that kind of success our offense just takes off. But you could just see there was still some doubt in our kids."
It could have surfaced when Lincoln-Way East (9-1) faced a third-and-21 on its second possession and quarterback Spencer Stanek completed a 35-yard pass.
Or, same possession, third-and-5 on Waubonsie's 40-yard line and Stanek completes a 38-yard pass to set up Kevin Starke's 2-yard touchdown run for a 14-3 lead near the end of the first quarter.
"We've been a big-play offense and you get in those third-and-long situations you don't want to be in, but this time of year it's about making plays," said Griffins coach Rob Zvonar.
Mitch Ewald kicked a 43-yard field goal on Waubonsie's first series, but that ended the Warriors' first-half scoring.
Waubonsie (6-4) came close after Starke made it 14-3, moving 77 yards to the Griffins' 8-yard line. Joe Kahlhammer drove through Waubonsie receiver Mark Hilgers for the interception to end the threat.
Even after Starke's 8-yard touchdown catch gave the Griffins a 21-3 halftime lead, Waubonsie quarterback Tyler Castro was in a decent frame of mind. Part of it was Chris Harris' 61 yards rushing in the first half, but a leg injury held him out of the second.
"Just go out and have fun, there's no pressure on us," said Castro, 21-of-39 passing for 164 yards. "I think that's really what loosened us up in the second half and allowed us to do what we did."
First, Lincoln-Way East did more of what it started, scoring on its first two third-quarter possessions to go up 35-3.
Out of the double wing Justin Wittl ran 18 times for 144 yards and the Griffins' first score. Starke had 14 carries for 62 yards and 3 touchdowns.
"Their defensive line (is) probably one of the best we've faced," Wittl said. "The back seven is still pretty good, but we thought if we could get past (a front four led by Tom Lund, Sherrod Stancil, Spencer Matlock and Rickey Simpson) we could control the game."
Castro had the offense rolling late, capping an 80-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Buckner.
Owen Saldana recovered a Griffins fumble and Tre Clark's 27-yard run set up Castro's 1-yard sneak behind center Brett Hanson.
Not quite enough.
"We didn't execute," Stancil said. "We got them where we wanted and we just didn't make the plays."