A defensive battle it wasn’t.
Nevertheless, Nazareth coach Dennis Moran had nothing but praise for his defensive squad after the Roadrunners (8-1, 6-0) escaped with a 34-33 victory over Walther Lutheran (7-2, 4-2) Saturday in a Private School League showdown in LaGrange Park.
The game lived up to its hype, as two of the area’s best running backs, Nazareth’s Phil Reed and Walther’s Patrick Walters, didn’t disappoint, combining for 508 yards and eight touchdowns.
Walters did most of the damage with 350 yards and five touchdowns on 38 carries, but the Nazareth defense came up big at the right time, stuffing Walters on a fourth-and-5 play at the Nazareth 40-yard line with 1 1/2 minutes left.
“We really regrouped and played some good defense in the second half, even though that’s hard to say when you’ve got a running back that gained over 300 yards on you,” Moran said. “But we made the big stop when we needed it, and we took advantage of that.”
In the fourth, Walther went up 33-28 on Walters’ fifth TD, a 1-yard run. Reed, who finished with 158 yards, alternated carrying the ball and blocking for Lundy Swilley as Nazareth drove 67 yards in 13 plays with 4:49 left for Reed’s winning touchdown.
Evanston 33, Waukegan 16: The fourth-ranked Wildkits (9-0, 5-0 Central Suburan South) completed their first undefeated regular season since 1971 as Sam Robinson, filling in for the injured Siaka Massaquoi (ankle), rushed for 107 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson scored on runs of 1, 6 and 8 yards as Evanston, which never trailed all year, led 33-0 at the half. Jermaine Lewis threw and rushed for touchdowns for Waukegan (5-4, 3-2).
Mt. Carmel 56, Weber 8: The eighth-ranked Caravan (8-1) scored 28 first-quarter points and never let up in the non-conference matchup. Vinnie Menconi and Andrew Potocki each rushed for two touchdowns for Mt. Carmel. Weber finished 0-9.
Downers Grove North 28, Oak Park 21: Elvin Simpson rushed for three TDs and Ryan Stulgin added one as Downers North (7-2, 5-1) survived in the West Suburban Silver. Host Oak Park finished 3-6, 2-4.
Eisenhower 14, Oak Lawn 0: Jose Flores rushed for 264 yards and both touchdowns as the Cardinals (5-4, 3-4 SICA Orange) shut out Oak Lawn (4-5, 3-4).
Morris 41, Elmwood Park 12: Matt Curran rushed for 209 yards and touchdowns of 1, 5 and 7 yards to lead Suburban Prairie White champ Morris (7-2, 5-0) past Elmwood Park (3-6, 1-4).
New Trier 42, Glenbrook South 0: John Spellman caught a 35-yard scoring pass from Mark Tapley and rushed 3 yards for another TD as New Trier (6-3, 4-1 Central Suburban South) blanked the Titans (4-5, 2-3).
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Niles North 17, Highland Park 0: Steve Neihaus rushed for 133 yards and touchdowns of 3 and 41 yards as Niles North (3-6, 2-3) shut out Highland Park (1-8, 1-4 Central Suburban North).
Rich South 53, Hillcrest 20: Deon Packer carried 30 times for 248 yards and three TDs and Dan Urban completed nine of 14 passes for 217 yards and three TDs as Rich South (4-5, 3-3) routed Hillcrest (3-5, 2-4) in the SICA Green.
Public League Intra-City playoffs: Roosevelt (6-4) claimed the Intra-City title with a 21-0 shutout of Farragut (5-3) as Anthony Pepin had two touchdown runs