Cook/Lake football roundup: St. Viator wins Gould’s debut; Vernon Hills blanks Grayslake North
St. Viator and new head coach Robbie Gould got off a to great start Friday in Arlington Heights.
The Lions made a key stop on a two-point conversion play with under two minutes to go. They then added a safety with seven seconds to play as St. Viator held of Marian Catholic 22-19.
"I thought for an opener, we played well," said Gould, who took over at St. Viator after coaching at Rolling Meadows last season.
“When they made the run at the end, the guys hung tough and stood up to the challenge. I was proud of them.”
A 31-yard touchdown run by Patrick Carnel, field goals of 49 and 38 yards by Alex Niemic, and a 1-yard run by Joey Lampignano gave the Lions a 20-6 lead with 10:06 to play.
Marian came back to challenge, but the Lions turned them away when it mattered most. St. Viator forced five turnovers with interceptions by Gu Sitang, James Lawson and Dylan Bergtalong and fumble recoveries by Sitang and Colton Schneider.
Vernon Hills 17, Grayslake North 0: Vernon Hills scored all the points it needed in the first half and rushed for 270 yards. Giuseppe Urso (19 carries, 137 yards) ran 21 yards for a touchdown while Langston Miller scored on a 2-yard run. Collin McMurray ran for 100 yards on 14 carries and Hunter Blumenfield kicked a 22-yard field goal. Michael Lewis, Lex Sarantos, Julian Moya Navarro, Devin Ratajczyk and Liam Wozniak led a Cougars defense that allowed just 4 passing yards and 86 yards of total offense.
Hoffman Estates 55, Buffalo Grove 14: Landon Ford and Hoffman were off and running. Ford rushed for 187 yards on 27 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 30 and 2 yards. Quan Field ha a 24-yard touchdown run while Braylin Scales scored on a 1-yard run as the Hawks piled up 270 rushing yards. Austin Lezniak (5-of-9, 113 yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes to Torey Baskin for 5 yards and Dumni Oginni for 14 yards. Vince Luzniak capped off the scoring for Hoffman with a fumble recovery in the end zone. Matthew Kaput scored on a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs for Buffalo Grove.
Maine West 34, Elk Grove 16: Maine West rallied from a 14-6 deficit to knock off its southern border rivals. Caden Nelson (4-of-10, 91 yards) threw touchdown passes to Nathan Adebe for 36 yards and Davion Tate that covered 23 yards. Tate and Louis Avalos (13 carries, 70 yards) each had 3-yard touchdown runs while Adebe rushed for 104 yards on 14 carries. Santiago Myles scored a pair of touchdowns for Elk Grove on an 8-yard run and a 7-yard pass from Nathan Dean.
Libertyville 24, Lemont 14: Tim Budge picked up his first win as head coach as Jack Zaban kicked a trio of field goals and Trevor Wallace (8-of-16, 190 yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes. Libertyville rallied from a 7-0 deficit with Wallace throwing a 76-yard touchdown pass to Nick Ori and a 19-yard TD pass to Lukas Melton. Zaban booted field goals from 23, 33 and 28 yards.
West Chicago 40, Round Lake 6: Round Lake made it to the red zone on four different occasions but could only capitalize one time. Kevin Rodriguez (6 receptions, 65 yards) scored on a 20-yard pass from Evan West, who finished 13-of-25. The Panthers were led on defense by Isaiah Urbina with 14 tackles and a forced fumble while Dylan Wright and Taron Barnes each had 8 tackles.
Wauconda 44, Hinsdale South 26: Wauconda had its running game in mid-season form. Jackson Rudolph rushed for 164 yards on 21 carries with four touchdowns. Cole Korycanek had 8 carries for 160 yards including a 79-yard touchdown run as the Bulldogs ran all over the Hornets.
Highland Park 21, Leyden 16: Leyden fell just a bit short in their opener. Lucas Lattiker (16 carries, 140 yards) had an 87-yard touchdown run. Matthew Aquirre was 21-for-36 passing for 199 yards and touchdown.
Oak Lawn 52, Wheeling 0: Wheeling’s trip to the south suburbs did not bear any fruit for the Wildcats and new head coach Ryan Gronwick. Christian Campos had 6 carries for 46 yards and Juliani Saldivar had 19 carries for 49 yards.
East Aurora 47, Maine East 16: Maine East fell behind 41-0 and could never recover. Emil Rafidi ran for a touchdown for the Demons and threw a touchdown pass to Aristotle Gouskos.
Glenbrook North 21, Lakes 13: The Eagles fell short in their first meeting with Glenbrook North.
Lake Park 35, Conant 12: Conant lost for the third consecutive year in its opener with Lake Park. Jackson Spizzirri (20 carries, 99 yards) scored on a 1-yard run and Nathan Kutella on a 10-yard run for the Cougars.