WW South picks 6 to win
Wheaton Warrenville South picked off another quality playoff opponent.
Snaring 6 interceptions Saturday night at Chicago's Gately Stadium, the Tigers advanced to their fourth straight semifinal appearance with a 24-0 football victory over Morgan Park in the Class 7A quarterfinals.
The Tigers will play East St. Louis (11-1), a 34-26 winner over Geneva, next week at Red Grange Field in Wheaton. It'll mark the first playoff meeting between the two perennial powers that have combined for 11 state championships.
Second-seeded Morgan Park (10-2) actually outgained No. 1 WW South (12-0) by 9 total yards of offense, but turnovers obviously proved to be critical.
The Tigers notched their 26th straight victory by forcing turnovers on more than half of Morgan Park's possessions for the game.
Senior linebacker Mark LaBelle snared the first two picks - the first two of his high school career - to set an early and decisive tone.
"At the beginning of the season, a lot of people didn't think the Tigers would be ready to go," said LaBelle, one of only four returning starters from last year's state title winning team. "We had our question marks and we got things going."
WW South had trouble moving the ball offensively thanks to a tough Morgan Park defense headed by 6-foot-5, 250-pound end Craig Drummond and his fierce pressure. LaBelle's first interception, however, set up the Tigers' first points late in the first quarter.
A 21-yard run by Peter Jarrett and a pass interference call against the Mustangs set up Dan Conroy's 32-yard field goal. LaBelle's second pick immediately led to Jarrett's 28-yard touchdown run and a 10-0 lead.
Morgan Park had the ball inside the Tigers' 20-yard line three times during the game but came away with no points. One possession ended on downs while interceptions by Tom Marsh and Matt Glawe ended the others.
"That's a tough team we played," said Tigers coach Ron Muhitch. "Our defense gave us short fields and some great turnovers."
A 37-yard pass from Mike Piatkowski to Mike Sloboda gave the Tigers a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, a drive capped by Piatkowski's 1-yard keeper and a 17-0 halftime lead.
The defenses traded second-half stops until WW South drove 68 yards in 6 run plays midway through the fourth quarter. Jarrett ran for 62 of the yards, including a 13-yard scoring run to put the final at 24-0.
Jarrett had 24 tough carries for 137 yards. Piatkowski threw for 81 yards.
Dominique Bell led Morgan Park's ground game with 115 yards on 17 carries, but 106 of his yards came by halftime.
"We do our job, but when the defense gets turnovers like that it makes our job 10 times easier," Jarrett said. "Turnovers are huge - they win football games."