Bishop Dwenger at North Side
Final Score: 27-14 Dwenger
Heading into the biggest matchup so far in the young season, a question hung over the heads of many. Based on what we saw in week 1, is North Side really that good, or is Snider just bad this year? Thankfully, those of us who cover high school football would be able to get some answers in week 2. We’ll deal with Snider a little later, but for now let’s discuss North Side. The Legends had gotten a lot of hype going into this game. The Snider victory was one of the biggest in school history and there was hope that there was more to come, starting with knocking off the Saints. The Legends showed in week 1 that they can be physical up front too and hoped it would carry into week 2. Unfortunately for North Side, they couldn’t handle Dwenger’s line for all 4 quarters.
After a scoreless first quarter in which neither offense could find their rhythm, it became apparent that the defenses would need to make some plays and get some turnovers to help their offenses. The Saints did just that on the very first play of the second quarter, with LB Matt Jimenez coming in to get a strip sack on Duce Taylor while LB KJ Tippmann picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. The pass rush had been getting to Taylor early and the defense was finally able to force him into a mistake.
“You can’t say enough about it,” Dwenger coach Jason Garrett said. “It’s such a team effort. I think we rotated six, eight, or ten guys on the defensive line to keep guys fresh. At the end of the day the guys on the headsets [were saying] we can’t let him sit back there. Thanks be to God we were able to put some pressure on him, we got some hits on him, and we got him moving around and it helps our guys on the back end for sure.”
Getting pressure on QB Duce Taylor was the key for Dwenger in this game. They knew they couldn’t let him go off for another 5 touchdowns and expect to win this game. When Duce had time to throw he was on the money, with 328 passing yds, but that often wasn’t the case in this game. Dwenger came with pressure from a lot of different areas which left Taylor to dodge defenders and try to find anywhere to throw it. Duce Taylor finished by going a subpar 14 for 33 passing and even on some of his completions looked very uncomfortable in the pocket. While North Side wasn’t able to get the same play out of their senior quarterback as last week, Dwenger was more than pleased with theirs. #13 was clutch in this game.
With QB’s like Duce Taylor and Carroll’s Jeff Becker taking much of the spotlight, it’s easy to forget that Dwenger has a star quarterback themselves. Brenden Lytle was his usual self on Friday night: calm, cool, and composed.
“It was huge for our seniors and in a way for me because this whole season it’s all about Duce, Duce this, Duce that, and I said this is going to be the week to show who’s the best quarterback,” Lytle said. “Duce is a great quarterback, but our defense did a great job.”
Not everything went Dwenger’s way on offense. They had difficulty running the ball once again and they turned the ball over on downs a couple of times early on. But what did Lytle do? He shrugged it off and played within himself.
“I’m just so proud of him,” Garrett said. “Every week he just gets better and better. We know that his skillset is one thing, but who he is as a young man and how he’s becoming a great leader is fun to watch every Friday night and throughout the week. A little bit of adversity early and he made some special plays and kept drives going. He’s in the huddle leading things and on that 4th and 2, bobbled snap, he made things happen. You really can’t put a value on a guy like that, who’s running your offense.”
That 4th and 2 came late in the fourth quarter with Dwenger only leading by 6. They decided to go for it at midfield and after a bobbled snap with the play already broken down, Lytle took it for himself and picked up a huge first down. The drive ultimately ended in a touchdown to put it away. This game only adds to a number of clutch performances that Lytle has had going back to his sophomore season, when he took over halfway through the year and guided the Saints to a state title with plenty of tight games along the way. Now as a senior, Brenden Lytle and the Dwenger Saints have their sights set on another state championship.
However, while their consistent QB and fearsome defense have played a big role in a great start to the year, the big surprise has been the emergence of WR Rocco Ciocca. Ciocca came through for another 6 catches and 125 yards while providing a huge mismatch for the Saints offense, with the wideout being every bit of 6’4”, 185 lbs.
“Love that kid to death,” Lytle said of his receiver. “It’s nice to have a big target on my outside, but next week we got our whole receiving corps. We were missing Henry O’Keefe, but next week we’re going to have him and now it’s just going to spread out even more.”
Dwenger keeps finding new weapons it seems, as the Saints continue marching on.
Snider at Carroll
Final Score: 42-12 Carroll
To answer the question from earlier, Snider is not a good football team right now. This is the first time the Panthers have started 0-2 since 1993. Many expected Snider to take a step back this year, after losing more than 30 seniors from last season, but getting outscored 89-29 is quite eye-opening. While Snider may have to rethink their usual high expectations entering the season, Carroll can keep chasing them. QB Jeff Becker was slinging the ball all over the field in this game for 364 yds and 4 total touchdowns. This time it was WR Jameson Coverstone ripping apart the secondary with 10 receptions for 240 yds and a touchdown. As long as Becker stays healthy, Carroll will have no problem competing with Dwenger for an SAC title.
Homestead at Concordia
Final Score: 7-0 Homestead
Sloppy offense and terrific defense was the story of this one. Without QB Brandon Davis, the Cadets couldn’t get much going on offense. RB Amir Drew struggled, only rushing for 75 yds and 20 carries and sophomore QB Eli Mattox gave it his best effort, but ultimately finished with 82 yds while only completing 28% of his passes. Both teams played very tough defense, forcing each offense into plenty of mistakes, but an Evan Ormsby to Jared Kistler touchdown pass was the difference and gave Homestead the win.
South Side at Northrop
Final Score: 27-7 Northrop
Damaius Cowen deserves a huge steak dinner for all the work he’s put in early in the season. The Northrop running back has run for 485 yds, 7 TD, and averaged 7.03 yards on the ground through two games! While the Bruins will continue feeding Cowen, QB Kareem Freeman has also done a nice job on the ground as well. In this game, he had 76 yds and 1 TD on only 9 carries. This ground attack has led to the Bruins getting their first 2-0 start since 2006, when they were able to beat South Side and Concordia in consecutive weeks.
Bishop Luers at Wayne
Final Score: 49-36 Luers
We expected a shootout and we sure got one. In a thrilling back and forth game, the Knights found a way to break through and outscore the Generals 32-14 in the second half. QB Carson Clark was fantastic in this game, with 261 yds, 2 TD on 14 of 21 passing. WR Brody Glenn was his favorite target, with Glenn having 5 catches for 124 yds. RB Ramon Anderson also had a big game with 134 yds and 2 TD. The Knights will try to take this momentum with them into their game with Homestead, while Wayne continues to search for a win against Northrop.
