Bad in black: St. Edward rolls over IC to move to 3-0
St. Edward football coach Mike Rolando encouraged fans to wear black Friday night in support of the Green Wave, who debuted all-black uniforms and helmets with just a hint of green piping for their showdown against Immaculate Conception.
The "blackout" quickly became a wipeout.
In a meeting between state-ranked teams, St. Edward dominated the Knights from start to finish and made a statement with a 42-0 victory in the Suburban Christian Conference (Gold Division) opener for both teams at Greg True Field in Elgin.
"You have to come out expecting to win, and I think we did that," said St. Edward senior quarterback Ben Lehman. " But 3-0 feels great, especially against a team like IC."
St. Edward (3-0, 1-0), ranked No. 10 in Class 4A, outgained the Knights 395 yards to 113. Immaculate Conception (2-1, 0-1) entered the game ranked No. 7 in Class 3A.
IC played without senior quarterback Cody Kotlow, who sat out due to a mild concussion suffered last week. Sophomore Cody Baker started in his place. But Kotlow's absence didn't account for the 42-point scoring differential, according to IC coach Mike Alberts.
"We got our butts kicked," he said. "There's no other way to say it. They were good last year and they're good this year. We weren't very good tonight. We stunk."
The St. Edward defense forced 2 first-half turnovers and the offense scored on each of its 4 possessions before halftime.
Luke Duffy put St. Edward ahead on the first drive of the game when he capped a 6-play, 74-yard drive with a 25-yard scoring burst up the middle.
The Knights responded with their best drive of the game, a 12-play march to the Green Wave 11-yard line. However, St. Edward linebacker Jon Keokanlaya hit Baker as he was attempting to pitch the ball to fullback Jose Godinez, and the Wave recovered the fumble at its own 17-yard line.
Behind the offensive line of Evan Finnane, Derek Porto, Art Monsivais, Zach Trisilla and Kevin Danikowski, the Green Wave flipped the field by driving 83 yards in 13 plays, culminating in Lehman's 2-yard touchdown run nearly six minutes later.
The Wave led 28-0 at the half, thanks to a pair of touchdown runs-after-catches by senior Sam Pozezinski. Twice Pozezinski made receptions for 10 yards, slipped a tackle and rumbled for scores, one for 35 yards, the other for 37 yards.
"After each catch I just wanted to make a guy miss," said Pozezinski, who finished with 5 catches for 124 yards. "I had a great block by Mark Olenek on that second touchdown. He got me into the end zone, so I really have to thank him."
Last week, IC trailed Walther Lutheran 21-0 only to rally for a 28-21 win. But any thoughts of a second straight comeback victory were thwarted in the third quarter after Matt Brockner stuffed Godinez for a 6-yard loss on 4th-and-5 at the Green Wave 38.
"They use good technique," Godinez said of the St. Edward defense. "They were low on us. They're a good football team and they came at us strong."
St. Edward made it 5 touchdowns in 5 possessions 7 plays later when sophomore Maurice Jackson broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run. Jackson led all rushers with 128 yards on 9 carries. Duffy's 33-yard touchdown run with 10:02 remaining in the game made it 42-0 and started a running clock.
The St. Edward defense pitched its second straight shutout. The Wave defeated Rockford Lutheran 49-0 in Week 2. Rolando credited defensive coordinator Marc Rusinko and defensive line coach Steve McShane for their scheme, which helped limit the IC veer option to 79 rushing yards.
"We had a really good game plan going in to take away their strength," Rolando said. "Our kids stepped up and played assignment defense and did their jobs. They took away the fullback, our 'backers got the quarterback and when they did get the pitch off we were able to fly to the ball."