With his team trailing by four and less than six minutes to play in the game, Thornton’s Antonio Tribble showed no apprehension Saturday.
The junior quarterback calmly rallied the No. 9 Wildcats to a 23-20 victory over visiting Proviso East in Harvey.
With 30 seconds remaining, Tribble hit junior wide receiver Brandon Tobias with a 14-yard scoring strike to cap a 16-play, 91-yard drive. Tribble completed 12-of-19 passes on the day for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Tribble’s lone miscue was a third-quarter interception, which was returned by Lenard Fitzgerald 50 yards to give Proviso East a 12-9 lead.
“He had a similar situation before against Joliet [last season],” said Thornton coach Bill Mosel of Tribble. “It’s not like he hasn’t been in that position before. He showed he had 10 games of varsity experience under his belt.”
Tribble gave the Wildcats a 16-12 lead on Tribble’s 5-yard TD pass to Anthony Williams with 7:58 left in the game. Thornton’s advantage was short-lived as Proviso East quarterback Jason Gipson hit Jeff Martin with a 44-yard scoring pass. Gipson completed the two-point conversion pass to give the Pirates a 20-16 lead with 5:26 to play.
Thornton grabbed a 9-0 lead as Tribble scored on an 8-yard run and Michael Berry and Devon Jefferson combined on a sack of Gipson in the end zone. Proviso East pulled to within 9-6 on Gipson’s 91-yard touchdown pass to Terry Love in the second quarter.
Tribble engineered his first come-from-behind victory in an Oct. 7, 2000, game against Joliet when he lofted a 32-yard TD pass to Greg Hughes on the final play of the game, giving the Wildcats a 25-24 victory.
Zion-Benton 38, Deerfield 19
After fumbling the ball away to host Deerfield on its first play from scrimmage, it was easy to think that Zion-Benton might have set the tone for a long season opener, if not its entire 2001 campaign.
But when sophomore running back Torris Childs, the guilty party of the game-opening fumble, eventually scored the second, third and fourth touchdowns of his first varsity start, all was quickly forgotten.
Equally forgettable, at least from Deerfield’s perspective, were the 20 straight points Zion-Benton reeled off to turn a 19-18 deficit into a decisive 19-point victory.
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Childs totaled 179 yards in 19 carries and had touchdown runs of 11, 5, 4 and 59 yards.
“I don’t know what to say,” Childs said. “Those were the offensive line’s touchdowns today, not mine.”
In other games
Mt. Carmel 48, St. Joseph 0: The No. 2 Caravan had no worries about next week’s showdown with top-ranked Joliet Catholic as it rolled in Westchester. Tom Brown scored on runs of 12 and 34 yards, and Greg Owens scored on runs of 30 and 3 yards to lead Mt. Carmel.
“We just came out and ran some basic offense and defense–the things we’ve been working on,” Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti said. “We never worry about next week. For us the most important game is the one [in which] we’re preparing.”
Mt. Carmel scored 26 points in the first quarter, including two touchdowns in a 16-second span late in the quarter. The Caravan defense held St. Joseph to 31 total yards.
Maine South 14, Notre Dame 0: The No. 5 Hawks (1-0) scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to edge Notre Dame. Tony Wnek scored on a 2-yard run with 3:49 left to put Maine South on the board. On the ensuing possession, Jason Clark returned an interception 15 yards to put the game away for the Hawks.
The game was delayed for 1 hour 10 minutes at the end of the third quarter due to lightning.
Hinsdale South 24, Rich East 7: Josh Weil returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown and Greg Cozzi and Dennis Alexander each added TD runs as the No. 19 Hornets (1-0) won on the road. Cozzi rushed for 87 yards in nine carries to lead Hinsdale South.
Gamar Diamond ran for 167 yards in 10 carries and scored on an 89-yard run for Rich East (0-1) in the first half but did not play in the second half due to dehydration.
Chicago Christian 42, Westmont 0: Rob Voss rushed for 88 yards in nine carries and scored three touchdowns as the Knights (1-0) rolled.
Evergreen Park 45, Marmion 14: Luke Schillo scored on runs of 77, 66 and 15 yards to pace the Mustangs’ rout.
Holy Cross 34, St. Laurence 14: Garrett Wolfe rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns in 20 carries as the Crusaders (1-0) won a game that was postponed Friday night. Kevin Hanley, Mike Lombardo and Sean Lyon each had short TD runs as Holy Cross built a 21-0 halftime lead. Wolfe took over in the second half on TD runs of 7 and 38 yards to put the game away.
H-F 32, Thornridge 0: Quarterback Steve Oliver had four rushing touchdowns, including a 74-yard score, to spark Homewood-Flossmoor to a season-opening shutout.
Lisle 20, St. Francis 13: With 3:19 to go in the fourth quarter, Tony Gnat scampered in from 14 yards out to give Lisle the win. Quarterback Kevin Crouch threw for two touchdowns, including a 14-yard strike to Joe Cortez in the third quarter to tie the game at 13-13. Scott Moorehouse led St. Francis with 213 yards in 14 carries and had TD runs of 70 and 84 yards in the second quarter.
Kelly 26, Roosevelt 0: Andre Evans and Eric Watkins each scored two rushing touchdowns for Kelly (1-0).
Montini 25, Ridgewood 6: Quarterback Scott Andriano scored on runs of 5 and 36 yards to help Montini build a 25-0 lead after three quarters. Kevin Tyrell opened the scoring with a 3-yard plunge in the first quarter and finished with 103 yards in 16 carries.
Morgan Park 52, Collins 0: Cinque Chapman rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns in 14 carries for the Mustangs (1-0). Collins did not gain a first down the entire game.
Nazareth 23, Driscoll 20: Lawrence Cannon scored two second-half rushing touchdowns as the Roadrunners (1-0) held on. Cannon’s TDs and Michael Donato’s second-half effort (6-for-6, 126 yards) were enough to offset Driscoll’s Victor Arlis (184 yards in 13 carries).
Niles West 34, Antioch 21: Emmanuel Simon scored on runs of 39 and 80 yards in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to rally Niles West from a 14-12 deficit. Alex Filin helped out with two rushing touchdowns and two two-point conversions in only five carries. Jeremy Will ran for 166 yards and a TD and Simon added 187 yards to give Niles West 467 total rushing yards on the day.
P.J. Hilbert hit Jeff Huebner with two TD passes and Dan Miodonski rushed for 107 yards to lead Antioch.
North Shore Country Day 36, Delavan (Wis.) School for the Deaf 0: The Raiders cruised as Joe Kim rushed for two touchdowns and QB Brian Jessen connected with Danny Murphy for a 24-yard TD strike.
Oak Park 20, Larkin 14: Frederick Matthews’ 22-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter broke a 14-14 tie and propelled the Huskies (1-0) past Larkin. Drew Slagel had two touchdown passes for Oak Park.
Thornwood 25, Bloom 14: Kenny West scored on a 9-yard run and returned an interception 35 yards for another score to lift the Thunderbirds.
Tilden 28, Juarez 0: The Blue Devils blanked Juarez as Bobby Frierson rushed for touchdowns of 25 and 35 yards.
Walther Lutheran 52, Luther North 0: Tony Stanton ran for 263 yards in 13 attempts and scored four touchdowns for Walther (1-0).
Warren 21, Waukegan 20: John Chase’s 4-yard touchdown reception from C.J. Feller with three minutes left lifted the Blue Devils (1-0). Justin Nahf went 11-of-20 for 200 yards and three touchdowns for Waukegan (0-1).
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Westinghouse 32, Austin 8: Darren Gafford fired four touchdown passes, three to Joseph Stokes, as the Warriors (1-0) rolled.