Most high school teams that rely on their placekicker for a victory usually end up with a loss.
More Top Picks Best Eye Massagers
Then again, most teams don’t have Notre Dame’s Bill Besenhofer.
The Dons’ kicker hit on field goals of 37, 32 and 25 yards, leading Notre Dame to a 16-12 victory Saturday over De La Salle. Besenhofer did miss two kicks–from 53 and 55 yards.
“I wasn’t nervous about today and felt very confident,” Besenhofer said. “And given the opportunity, I’d knew I’d do well.”
“Walking out of our first game with a victory is always nice,” Notre Dame coach Mike Hennessey said. “This is what you work for the past eight to nine months, to be able to walk away with a victory in the first game. We were very fortunate to have good field position, and to have a kicker like Billy (Besenhofer) helps out also.”
Bill Stanton added 101 yards rushing for the Dons, and Joe Jennings chipped in a 2-yard touchdown run.
Tom Ruswick threw two touchdowns for De La Salle, while Baron Murth added 84 yards rushing in a losing effort. But the Meteors fumbled two punts, leading to two field goals.
Larkin 41, Hinsdale Central 7: Behind four touchdowns and 171 rushing yards from Vince Webber (16 carries), No. 11 Larkin cruised to the opening victory in Elgin. Webber had a 3-yard TD run in the first, then broke runs of 45 yards and 64 yards in the 20-point second quarter as Larkin broke the game open. Travann Hayes chipped in with a TD and 105 yards rushing on three carries, including a 66-yard scramble that set up Webber’s final score.
Loyola 26, Lane Tech 8: Junior Salvatore DiMucci, making his first varsity start, rushed for 60 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the 19th-ranked Ramblers. Loyola held Lane Tech to 121 total yards.
The victory spoils the debut of Lane coach Ron Rio, who is back at Lane Tech after a 20-year absence. He led Lane to the Public League championship in 1977.
“The object was to keep the offense simple for the first game,” said Loyola coach John Hoerster. “It’s the old K-I-S-S principle– keep it simple, stupid. And that helped us.”
Andrew 17, Thornridge 12: Tim Brach scored on a 25-yard pass from Jerrod Howard and on a 13-yard run to lead the Thunderbolts in the SICA crossover. Dan Gomez rushed for 61 yards for Andrew.
Brother Rice 20, Bogan 0: Kevin Badke hooked up with Mike Archie for a 25-yard scoring play and later added a 1-yard TD run as the Crusaders (1-0) blanked Bogan (0-1). Jack Winters led the Brother Rice defense with 14 tackles and blocked a punt.
Eisenhower 14, Thornton Fractional North 7: Jose Flores scored on an 87-yard kickoff return and a 4-yard run to give the Cardinals the opening-week victory. Niko Frenette rushed for 116 yards and one score for T.F. North.
Elmwood Park 22, Driscoll 21: Adam King (8 of 14, 160 yards) threw for all three of Elmwood Park’s TDs and the winning two-point conversion in the second overtime as Elmwood Park upset 3A quarterfinalist Driscoll.
Facing fourth down and goal from the 6 in the second extra session, King hooked up with Dan Farmar to pull within 21-20 and then hit Rafael DeJesus with the winning conversion.
Kelly 41, Roosevelt 0: Stanley Peat (nine carries, 142 yards) had four TDs–three rushing and a 40-yard interception return–as Kelly tallied 240 yards of offense en route to the non-conference victory.
Lockport 44, Oak Park 14: Lockport, taking advantage of numerous Oak Park first-half turnovers and penalties, built a comfortable halftime 31-7 lead and never looked back.
Damien Ware scored from the 5 for the Porters with the first of his four TDs to make it 14-0 with two minutes and 47 seconds left in the second quarter. Ware later scored on a 13-yard run and a pair of 1-yard plunges.
Lockport, which didn’t punt the entire game, totaled 371 yards of offense while Oak Park managed just 178.
Marmion 42, Evergreen Park 0: Kyle Saltijeral threw one touchdown pass and scored on runs of 1 yard and 5 yards to lead the Cadets. Steve Edwards closed out the scoring with a 42-yard run.
Mather 35, Lindblom 0: Mike Rice (11 carries, 124 yards) rushed for three TDs and kicked all five extra points in Mather’s rout of Lindblom (0-1). Rice scored from the 12 early in the first quarter and again on a 9-yard sweep and a 3-yard run.
Niles North 26, Schurz 0: Greg Zagorski (7 of 11, 106 yards) threw two touchdown passes and Steve Neihaus (15 carries, 86 yards) rushed for two scores to pace host Niles North (1-0) to the victory. Zagorski hit Emmitt Talkington for a 7-yard TD and later hooked up with John Anzelone from 10 yards out.
Rich East 34, North Chicago 0: The Rockets led by the final score at halftime before going deep into their bench in the second half. Senior tailback John White carried the ball six times for 70 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown run on the opening drive.u
Ridgewood 35, Riverside-Brookfield 14: Riverside-Brookfield, a 4A quarterfinalist a year ago, surrendered 21 first-quarter points while being held to only 98 yards of total offense.
More Top Picks What Is Visual Midline Shift Syndrome
Ridgewood back Brian Floral finished with 134 yards on 22 carries and four TDs while R-B’s celebrated back, Eric Bava, a 1,500-yard rusher last year, was held to just 50 yards. Bava did, however, return a second-quarter kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.
St. Francis 28. Luther South 0: Matt Rotta rushed for 204 of St. Francis’ 322 yards on the ground and touchdown runs of 58 and 3 yards. St. Francis held the Braves to 78 total yards.
Simeon 33, East St. Louis 7: Dennis Butler scored on an 11-yard run and 82-yard kickoff return to spark the Wolverines. Butler finished the game with 90 yards and 11 carries, and Simeon forced four turnovers.
Tinley Park 48, Oak Lawn 28: Shawndale Summeral rushed for 258 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Brad Nagel ran for four touchdowns of his own as the Titans cruised in the SICA crossover. Ron Bay’s 35-yard interception return with three minutes remaining put the game away.