Friday’s Games:
Bishop Dwenger at Concordia
Final Score: 33-14 Dwenger
Friday was one of the oddest nights of high school football we’ve seen in a while. Storms don’t often show up on Fridays during football season, but they did this week. Plenty of games had to be postponed and moved to Saturday. Some games were able to get underway despite the weather. And then there were some that were played past 10 pm on Friday and didn’t end until after midnight, in early Saturday morning.
The game between the Dwenger Saints and Concordia Cadets would be one of the games that was played very late on Friday, which was liable to create a few extra challenges for both teams.
First, the field was soaked and dressed with mud, making the playing surface very slippery. Then, you have to account for the fact that both teams had been sitting, waiting in the locker room for 4-5 hours, unsure if they’d get to play. Finally, there’s the realization that the players would have to cap off a long day by playing in a football game, that finished at the time when most would already be asleep.
Oh yeah, and it was Concordia’s homecoming. Only a few patient spectators were all that would witness this homecoming football game. It was a surreal experience for all involved, but after the game Saints head coach Jason Garrett was proud of the way both teams managed the situation.
“I think it’s the same for both teams. Everybody’s eager to play. Actually I thought both teams handled it pretty well. Hats off to Concordia, Coach Mannigel for getting the game in, I think everyone wanted to get that accomplished. It was a great night for high school football, a fun one, a late one, and we’re happy.”
Dwenger will definitely be happy to win such a strange game that could have easily affected their play on the field. However, they got a huge win and did it emphatically, with their defense forcing 3 interceptions and holding the Cadets passing attack to 157 yds and 0 TD, to the delight of Garrett.
“We know Concordia’s very good in the passing game so part of that I think was pressure, flushing him from the pocket I think on some of those plays, that’s our coaches making some great calls and putting our guys in the right places. Then it’s guys executing and making a couple big plays out there.”
The Saints offense was also very effective with QB Brenden Lytle having one of his best games of the year with 224 yds and 2 TD. The team also had 151 yds rushing and 224 yds receiving and looks as good as ever this year.
All of this comes in the thick of a very important stretch of games, from Homestead a few weeks ago to Snider in a couple more weeks. The Saints are now 5-1 with three weeks remaining. Next week will be senior day for Dwenger with Bishop Luers next on the schedule, a game they likely won’t overlook.
“It’s just like any other week,” said Coach Garrett. “I mean, here we go, week 7 already which is hard to believe and it’s rivalry week, throw the records out the window it’s Luers-Dwenger, so we’ll celebrate this one this night and get back to work this morning.”
Homestead at North Side
Final Score: 47-21 Homestead
Homestead didn’t get caught looking ahead to Carroll and took care of business on the road. Despite a very late game on Friday, both teams handled things well like they did in the Dwenger-Concordia game. The Spartans were once again led by QB Luke Goode who was 15 of 24 on pass attempts, throwing for 358 yds and 3 TD. Cam Rogers showed up at wide receiver with his 5 rec for 130 yds and 2 TD. Lost in this is the performance of North Side running back Alex Holliday-Robinson who had 192 yds and 1 TD, averaging 8.7 yds/car. Both teams have big games on the way, as each will face their rivals next week.
Wayne at Snider
Final Score: 44-12 Snider
The Panthers added to their win total, blowing out Wayne Friday. A game that finished well before midnight, and had the earliest kickoff time around 9 pm. The Generals were obviously outmatched, but they got a lot out of their QB Aidan Meek, who’s 10-for-20, 157 yds and 2 TD was one of the best performances for a Wayne QB this year. But Snider’s defense only allowing Wayne RB Keshaun Fields to have 46 yds and 0 TD was the difference. Without their running game, Wayne struggled to score points. Meanwhile, it was a great night for Snider’s leading rusher Lenny Bennett, as he ran for 124 yds and 3 TD, and the rest of the Snider team as they bounced back from their only loss this year.
Saturday’s Games:
Carroll at South Side
Final Score: 27-6 Carroll
The early game on Saturday was interesting in the first half, before the Chargers were able to pull away in the second. QB Jeff Becker had 219 yds, both passing and running, and 3 total TD on Saturday. A lot of those yards were went to WR Layton Mitchell, who had 143 yds on the day. South Side also had a great QB-WR combo with Demere Clark (184 yds, 1 TD) slinging it to Davonte Alford (123 yds, 1 TD). Carroll and South Side will each prepare for big rivalry games next week, with Homestead and North Side on the way.
Northrop at Bishop Luers
Final Score: 27-26 Northrop
The closest game of the weekend ended with the Bruins coming out on top, again. They have played 4 games in which the score was 11 points or less, and have won all of them. It was a great performance for Northrop’s offense, led by QB Dylan Hoot (161 yds, 2 TD), RB Jeremiah Green (181 yds, 2 TD), and WR Qualen Pettus (102 yds, 1 TD). This was one of the best games for the Bishop Luers offense as well, with QB Christian Fly passing for 114 yds and 1 TD, and 194 yds and 2 TD for the collective group of Knights running backs. Northrop is up to 4-2 on the year, with Luers is in a hole at 1-5.
