Park, Westminster Christian in control against Christian Liberty
Quarterback Tannor Park brings a different perspective to this year's Westminster Christian football team.
Park is a recent transfer from Arizona, and he's playing with a group of seniors who have been together since the eighth grade.
"The weather," joked Park, a junior, when asked the biggest difference between Arizona and Illinois.
"I've come from playing at a big school to a small school," added Park, getting a bit more serious. "With the size of this team most of us, including me, play both ways. I got lucky today and didn't have to play defense."
That was obviously the right call, considering Park's performance on offense Saturday at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights.
Park finished 12-of-14 for 213 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 58-0 victory over the host Chargers.
The Warriors improved to 4-1 overall and 4-1 in conference (Northeastern Athletic).
"It's better than being 1 and 4," said Westminster coach John Davis of his team's best start since the program was established.
"We've got some continuity here," added Davis. "Most of these kids have been playing together since middle school."
Christian Liberty was able to move the ball against the Westminster defense and had some good chances to score, but 5 turnovers and a slew of mistakes kept them out of the end zone.
It also didn't help that CLA two way offensive lineman Paul Wesner - who also handles kicking duties for the Chargers - suffered an arm injury early in the first quarter and didn't return.
"It was tough to be on the sidelines," said Wesner, a senior. "I'm sure it would have been a different story if I had been in there - we might not have won, but I'm sure there would have been a difference on the scoreboard."
"I was going for a tackle in the alley," added Wesner," and I got blindsided or something and my elbow bent back the wrong way."
Westminster scored in the first half on three Park TD passes to Scotty Graziano (11, 43, and 22 yards), a 45-yard Park toss to Connor James Albrecht and a 16-yard run by Nick De Maira.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Albrecht caught an 8-yard scoring pass, Xavier Brown ran in from 27 yards away, De Maira had a 1-yard scoring run, and Keaton Frens caught a 20-yard TD toss.
"Pretty good game," said De Maira, a senior who recently celebrated his 18th birthday. "We've made a big leap from last year to this year, but we've got to keep working hard."
"I've been with most of these guys for awhile. We dedicated ourselves to the team over the summer, putting in the time and effort. We spent almost every day practicing for four hours."
On the defensive side of the ball, Noah Anderson and Brown recorded interceptions, while the defensive line - including 6-foot-2, 340-pound lineman Zach Alters - spent a ton of time in the Chargers' backfield.
"We've already tied our win total from last year," said Alters. "I think there's more good things coming our way."
The Warriors piled up 470 yards of total offense as Anderson rushed for 66 yards, Bobby Scott had 55 yards on the ground, and Graziano caught 7 passes for 117 yards.
CLA quarterback James Pittman threw for 67 yards.
"Despite the score," said Wesner," we're a much better team than last year, or years past. We're putting points on the board, but we've got to get better."