NAZARETH’S LAST-PLAY INTERCEPTION BEATS CHICAGO CHRISTIAN

After driving the length of the field to the Nazareth 5-yard line in the waning moments of the game, Chicago Christian opted to go for the win. For the second time in the game, it was Nazareth’s defense that came up big.

Matt Wilkinson intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve the Roadrunners’ 10-7 win in the Private School League.

“I was surprised they decided [to go for the touchdown],” Nazareth coach Dennis Moran said. “They got the ball all the way to our 5-yard line and they decided to go for the win. But we got turnovers when we needed them.”

Ryan Griffin’s 26-yard field goal late in the third quarter gave Nazareth (3-4, 0-3) the winning margin.

Sean Lewis put Nazareth on the scoreboard with a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown with 39 seconds left in the first half as the Roadrunners pulled even with the Knights (5-2, 1-2). Lewis also had seven tackles, two of them for losses and Wilkinson had seven tackles as the Nazareth defense also forced two fumbles.

Mark Hamstra, one of the area’s leading rushers, had 156 yards in 32 carries for Chicago Christian.

–Lonny Goldsmith

Joliet Catholic 42, Benet 0: J.R. Zwierzynski scored five touchdowns–four rushing and one receiving–as the No. 3 Hilltoppers (7-0, 5-0) romped in the Catholic Metro White. Zwierzynski finished with 106 yards rushing in 14 attempts and three receptions for 94 yards. Chris Gruber contributed 126 yards in 11 carries and a touchdown for Joliet Catholic.

“We know we had to come out and control the tempo offensively,” Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp said. “The first drive being about nine minutes long did that for us. And our defense did what they could to set the tone, too, with a couple of big stops early, and our running game took it the rest of the way.”

Maine South 50, Waukegan 8: Corey Norman ran for 78 yards in 19 carries and scored three TDs for the No. 9 Hawks (7-0, 3-0) in the Central Suburban South. Quarterback Shawn Kain completed 7-of-8 passes for 125 yards and scored three rushing TDs. John Smith rushed for 83 yards in 14 carries to lead Waukegan (4-3, 2-1).

“This was the best game we’ve played out of the last three,” Maine South coach Phil Hopkins said. “We talked about how we were on `cruise’ but haven’t played a complete game. I thought we did today.”

Richards 58, Oak Lawn 0: Dan Spano had 150 yards in 20 carries and four touchdowns as the No. 13 Bulldogs (7-0, 5-0) rolled in the SICA Orange. Richards is tied with Thornton Fractional South for first place in the conference, with the teams playing Friday at Richards.

Bradley-Bourbonnais 49, Thornridge 0: Josh Perkins rushed for 60 yards in seven carries and scored two touchdowns as the No. 20 Boilermakers (6-1, 4-1) rolled in the SICA Gray. Bradley’s defense returned three interceptions for touchdowns. Ken Washington had a 70-yard return, Brandon Davidson returned another 53 yards and Jared Boychen returned the last one 20 yards.

Driscoll 13, Montini 7: After a goal-line stand by its defense, Driscoll’s Matt Butler fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Netzer with 43 seconds left as the Highlanders (6-1, 4-1) edged Montini in the Suburban Catholic. Butler had two touchdown passes, with the other going to Ryan Franken in the second quarter.

Kevin Tyrrell led Montini (5-2, 4-1) with 104 yards in seven carries.

Flower 38, Austin 14: Despite Austin getting 169 yards rushing from Mike Mosley and taking an early 6-0 lead, Flower (4-3, 4-1) defeated the Tigers in the Public League West.

Grayslake 32, Lake Zurich 12: Eric Flanders had two first-quarter touchdowns to put Grayslake (3-5, 3-5 Fox Valley) ahead to stay.

Harper 42, Englewood 22: Steve Chambers rushed for 172 yards in 27 carries and scored two touchdowns as the Cardinals (5-2, 2-2) rolled in the Illini Southwest.

Holy Cross 27, Gordon Tech 21: Mike Bleke was 10-of-17 passing for 86 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns, including a 1-yard run with 53 seconds left, for the Crusaders (7-0, 5-0) in the Catholic Metro Red. Sergio Escobar scored two rushing TDs for Gordon (3-4, 2-2), whose final pass fell incomplete at the end.

Immaculate Conception 45, St. Edward 7: Jason Dembosz had 179 yards in 21 carries and scored four touchdowns for the Knights (4-3, 2-3) in the Suburban Catholic.

King 53, Farragut 20: Ronald Stewart was 8-of-12 passing for 164 yards and threw four touchdown passes for the Jaguars (4-3).

Lake Forest Academy 14, University School-Milwaukee 8: Lake Forest Academy (7-0) rallied from an 8-0 deficit to pull off the victory. Zack Yirkovsky hooked up with Johnnie Johnson on a 71-yard touchdown pass and Drew Harger gave the Wildcats the lead with a 40-yard interception return.

Lisle 41, Dwight 0: Tony Gnat and Kevin Crouch combined for 164 yards in 20 carries and four touchdowns for Lisle (5-2, 3-2) in the Interstate Eight.

Loyola 34, St. Laurence 15: Chris Fox led Loyola with 153 yards in 20 carries plus touchdown runs of 26, 27 and 4 yards as the Ramblers rolled over St. Laurence (1-6, 0-5 Catholic Metro Blue). Jim Weck scored a pair of touchdowns as Loyola (6-1, 4-1) jumped to a 34-0 lead.

Luther South 32, Luther North 20: Terrance McCants’ 40-yard interception return for a touchdown broke a 20-20 tie with 2 minutes 18 seconds left to cap Luther South’s come-from-behind victory in the Private School League game. McCants also scored on runs of 8 and 45 yards and a two-point conversion that tied the score.

David Adams and Michael Van Hove hooked up on touchdown passes of 47 and 15 yards, and Michale Penkala rushed for 210 yard on 29 carries for North (1-7, 1-3), which held a 20-12 lead with less than three minutes left in the game.

McCants had 53 yards rushing and 45 more passing for Luther South (3-4, 2-2).

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Lyons Township 48, Oak Park 14: Quarterback Matt Bruckner rushed for three touchdowns for Lyons (4-3, 3-1) in the West Suburban Silver.

Marshall 22, Westinghouse 6: Brian Graener scored two rushing touchdowns and blocked a punt for a safety for the Commandos (7-0, 4-0) in the Illini Northwest.

Oak Forest 41, Argo 6: Mario Mares ran for 141 yards in just four carries and scored two touchdowns for the Bengals (6-1, 4-1) in the SICA Orange.

Palatine 51, Fremd 29: Mike Hnytka accounted for six touchdowns–three rushing and three passing–as the Pirates (3-4, 1-2) romped in the Mid-Suburban West.

Brian Duncan had four touchdowns–two rushing, one receiving and one kickoff return–for Fremd (4-3, 1-2).

Ridgewood 31, Evergreen Park 13: John Nixon’s 230 yards in 32 attempts and two touchdowns led the Rebels (4-3, 2-3) in the Suburban Prairie White. With Ridgewood trailing 13-10, Nixon ripped off a 68-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Rebels ahead for good.

Riverside-Brookfield 49, Elmwood Park 7: Tim Brasic completed 21-of-29 passes for 313 yards and six touchdowns as the Bulldogs (7-0, 5-0) cruised in the Suburban Prairie White.

Sandwich 43, Reed-Custer 42 (3 OT): Sergio Reyes ran for 157 yards in 12 carries and scored four touchdowns–two in overtime–as Sandwich (4-3. 3-2 Interstate Eight) outlasted Reed-Custer. Brian Bormet ran for 207 yards and four touchdowns, returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass for Reed-Custer (4-3, 3-2).

Seneca 38, Plano 12: Dane Justice ran for 283 yards in 14 carries and all five Seneca touchdowns in their Interstate Eight win. Seneca remains undefeated at 7-0, 5-0 in the conference. Plano is 2-5, 1-4.

Steinmetz 13, Prosser 0: Quarterback Dogan Genis scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards for Steinmetz (5-2, 4-1) in the Public Chicago North.

Stevenson 28, Antioch 17: Mark Paskvan rushed for 73 yards in 16 carries and scored three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter as the Patriots (5-2, 2-1) downed Antioch in the North Suburban Lake. Mark Purnell’s 1-yard touchdown run put Antioch ahead 17-14 late in the third quarter before Paskvan scored from 2 and 25 yards out in the fourth.

Purnell led Antioch (5-2, 2-1) with 68 yards in 23 carries.

St. Francis 20, Marmion 19: Scott Moorhouse scored two rushing touchdowns and David Ryan added 4-yard touchdown run for St. Francis (7-0, 5-0) in the Suburban Catholic.

St. Joseph 46, St. Francis de Sales 12: Charles Hayden scored three touchdowns and ran for 145 yards as St. Joseph’s (3-4, 3-2) won in the Catholic Metro Red.

Thornton 25, Joliet 24: Antonio Tribble threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Hughes in the last play of the game as the Wildcats (5-2, 3-2) rebounded from last week’s loss to Lincoln-Way in the SICA Blue.

Walther Lutheran 55, Aurora Christian 0: Bo Flowers threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Broncos (7-0, 4-0) in the Private School League.