Niles West edges BG in a wild one
New Buffalo Grove football coach Jeffrey Vlk made his debut a memorable one.
In his first game as the Bison's head coach, Vlk ran a 2-point conversion, an onside kick and a flea-flicker with the game on the line.
However, it wasn't enough as BG fell 28-25 to Niles West on Friday night.
“We know that we need to take chances in order to win football games,” Vlk said. “We want our kids to know that we are in it to win it. I think our kids know that and they thrive on that. We are going to continue to play that way.”
Buffalo Grove had a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The biggest blow of the game came in the early portion of the fourth quarter.
After a Chase Marsh 8-yard touchdown run and a successful 2-point conversion, senior Matthew Galanopoulos of Niles West returned a 99-yard kickoff to the house to make it 28-18.
The Bison stayed in the game, and were within 3 with the ball after recovering an onside kick. Vlk decided to try his luck for a third time by calling a flea-flicker on third and long, but Matthew Metz wrestled the ball away from Thomas Kelly in the end zone.
“It wasn't just that play (that cost BG the game),” BG quarterback Connor Adams said. “There were plays earlier in the game that cost us.”
It took the Wolves a quarter to wake up, as an accidental knee from punter Dan Zickert on his own 8 yard-line that led to a Johnny Pabts 4-yard touchdown run.
“We just made too many mistakes on our end,” Vlk said. “We felt like we were outplayed tonight. Niles is a really good, and they are a well-coached team. They deserved to win the ballgame.”
In his first start at the high school level, Adams threw for 174 yards, including a 35-yard laser to Zack Sheasby for his first touchdown pass of his career.
“I saw (Sheasby) get open and I knew I had to give him a chance,” Adams said. “ I threw it to him, and he made a nice play.”
“The kid can't even drive a car yet, and he is in charge of our offense,” Vlk said. “Once he settled into the game, I though he did a really nice job directing the offense. I hope this game carries over to the next one for him. He gets better week to week. We are happy to have him.“
Adams and company will have their home opener next Friday as they take on Hoffman Estates.
“Niles West made the plays when they needed to and we didn't,” Vlk said. “On a positive note, I think we needed this to give us a kick in the butt.”