St. Edward tripped up at Riverside-Brookfield
When standout St. Edward running back Dwayne Allen limped off the field after a hard tackle late in the third quarter of Saturday's against Riverside-Brookfield, it could have been one of those moments where the rest of the Green Wave team felt defeated. Instead, St. Edward rallied for their junior teammate who didn't return for the rest of the game.
Sophomore quarterback Dylan Mlinarich showed a lot of poise by leading the team on a scoring drive after that injury. Mlinarich saw a lot more action as the signal caller because starter Saveon Smith was excused from the game due to a family funeral.
The key play was a 17-yard pass to wide receiver Tyler Holt. Three plays later, Patrick Brown punched it in from 2 yards out. The ensuing extra point from David Madden kept the Green Wave to within a touchdown but the Bulldogs prevailed with a fourth-quarter touchdown to win this Metro Suburban crossover 21-7.
This game was played on a neutral site at Lyons Township High School in Western Springs. The Bulldogs' stadium is under construction and is scheduled to open next month.
St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said R-B (3-0 overall record) won the contest with physical play in the trenches which limited Allen's effectiveness and kept Mlinarich running in the pocket. Allen, who ran for 1,573 yards last year and had already piled up 508 yards and 8 touchdowns in the first two games of this season, was held to only 44 yards on 17 carries.
"They won the battle upfront," Rolando said. "We had a hard time blocking them and keeping them out of our backfield. Duane going down really hurt us. The kids played hard going up against a sizable opponent like that and I am proud of them."
Rolando expected Allen to be back for next week's game.
In the early going, both teams traded big stops and there was no score after the end of the first quarter. Green Wave defenders hounded quarterback Ryan Swift. Defensive tackle Jake French had a big sack.
The Bulldogs scored first off a turnover. Swift, who also starts at linebacker, recovered a fumble. On the next play, he threw a 15-yard strike to John Mieczkowski for a touchdown with 10:36 to play in the second quarter. Swift finished with 183 yards on 17-32 passing.
"He is a throwback," said RB coach Brendan Curtin of Swift. "Some people raise their eyebrows when they hear that our quarterback is a starting linebacker."
The Bulldogs' other scores came on a 4-yard run by David Priby-Pierdnock in the third and a 26-yard sprint for a score by Ja'Mari Wise.
For St. Edward (2-1), coach Rolando liked what he saw with the scoring drive and looks for the team to build on that.
"We did connect on one of those late which was great," he said. "We will do more good things as time goes on."