Homewood-Flossmoor’s do-it-all Steve Oliver did almost everything Saturday against Thornton.
But the Thornton defense made sure the operative word was almost after stopping Oliver on H-F’s final drive as the No. 9 Wildcats (4-0, 2-0) held on for a 28-21 SICA Blue victory in Harvey.
Oliver, who serves as quarterback and kick returner, scored all three of Homewood-Flossmoor’s TDs but could not finish a rally from 14 points down. Thornton’s Maurice Jackson sacked Oliver to preserve the victory.
“[Oliver’s] going to get his numbers, but our defense stopped their offense [in the clutch],” Thornton coach Bill Mosel said. “The defense has been playing well all year.”
Oliver scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, a 90-yard kickoff return in the fourth and another 1-yard run later in the fourth. He finished with 112 yards in 18 carries, 135 yards in three kick returns and 57 yards passing.
After Oliver’s kickoff-return TD, which brought H-F (1-3, 0-2) within 21-14 with 9 minutes 3 seconds left in the game, Marcus Randle El responded with an 82-yard return of his own, setting up Chancellor Chatman’s 13-yard touchdown run. Oliver’s final TD run with just over five minutes left pulled the Vikings within seven.
Antonio Tribble had a 12-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Williams and a 4-yard touchdown run to lead Thornton offensively.
Maine South 44, Maine West 0: Brian Cura scored three rushing touchdowns and Chris Osco added two rushing TDs as the No. 4 Hawks (4-0) rolled.
Bolingbrook 45, Thornwood 20: A.J. Johnson ran for 56 yards in eight carries and scored two touchdowns as the No. 18 Raiders (3-1, 2-0) jumped to a 38-0 lead and never looked back in the SICA Gray game. Quarterback Derell Jenkins scored on a 61-yard run and Jon Hall added a 90-yard kickoff return for a TD.
Kenneth West had two rushing touchdowns to lead Thornwood (2-2, 1-1).
Argo 34, Reavis 24: Chaz Smith had nine carries for 107 yards and a touchdown as the Argonauts (4-0, 2-0) won in the SICA Orange. The victory gives Argo its best start in 20 years.
Argo led by just a point at halftime before Sherman Benton returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown, which turned the momentum toward Argo.
Ben Heredia led Reavis (1-3, 0-2) with 123 yards in 20 carries and a touchdown.
Corliss 28, Harlan 6: Terence Wash had 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns and Antoine Merritt caught two TD passes from Charles Baugh to lead Corliss (3-1, 1-0) in the Public South.
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Fenwick 27, St. Laurence 0: Kevin Quinn scored two touchdowns as the Friars (4-0, 2-0) gained the Catholic Metro Blue shutout.
Harper 49, Robeson 2: Andrew Wilkins passed for 118 yards and four touchdowns to lead Harper (4-0, 1-0) in the Public Illini Southwest.
Holy Cross 29, Hales Franciscan 21: Garrett Wolfe rushed for 262 yards in 28 carries and scored on a 27-yard run as the Crusaders (2-2, 1-0) won in the Catholic Metro Red. Wolfe also had a 53-yard punt return, which resulted in Sean Lyon’s 4-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. Ryan Newman added two rushing touchdowns for Holy Cross.
Lake View 28, Clemente 6: Robert Jackson scored two defensive touchdowns as the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) won in the Public West. Jackson recovered a fumble in the end zone in the first quarter and returned another fumble 52 yards for a score in the third.
Loyola 35, De La Salle 3: Quarterback Jake Toohey and wide receiver Nick Marks put on a two-man show as visiting Loyola came away with the Catholic Metro Blue victory. Toohey went 12-of-16 passing for 236 yards, 207 of which went to Marks. Toohey and Marks also connected for three touchdowns for the Ramblers (3-1, 1-1).
Marmion 14, Immaculate Conception 12: Mark Erickson ran for 71 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries for Marmion (1-3, 1-1) in the Suburban Catholic.
Trailing 14-6 late in the fourth quarter, Immaculate Conception (1-3, 0-2) scored when Doug Schmidt returned a fumble 46 yards for a touchdown. The Knights missed the two-point conversion try.
Nazareth 43, St. Francis de Sales 7: The Roadrunners (3-1) romped behind Lawrence Cannon’s 131 yards and two touchdowns in 11 carries. Cannon scored on runs of 1 and 36 yards.
North Shore Country Day 34, Mooseheart 14: Jordan Fisher rushed for 153 yards in 10 carries and scored on a 45-yard run to lift the Raiders (4-0). Danny Murphy scored two touchdowns for North Shore, including a 64-yard interception return to close out the first half.
Proviso West 26, Oak Park 21: Nate Marshall caught two touchdown passes from Steve Morgan for the Panthers (1-3, 1-1) in the West Suburban Silver.
Rich East 27, Kankakee 19: Gamar Diamond ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns in 24 carries and became the Rockets’ all-time leading rusher in the SICA Green game. Diamond now has 2,681 yards, surpassing Eric Powell’s 2,538. Rich East improved to 2-2, 2-0.
St. Patrick 41, Benet 21: Tim McGarigle took off on an 85-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone for St. Patrick in the Catholic Metro White contest. McGarigle scored later in the first on a 14-yard run and QB Brian Joyce picked up three rushing TDs to lead the Shamrocks (3-1, 1-1).
St. Viator 41, Gordon Tech 6: Kyle Basanez was 17-of-27 passing for 260 yards and three touchdowns as the Lions (2-2, 2-0) rolled in the Catholic Metro Red. Mike Cloud had two TD receptions, including a 12-yarder on St. Viator’s first possession.
Sandwich 41, Lisle 35: Zach Hollenbeck and Nate Thielk combined for 403 yards in 53 carries and five touchdowns as Sandwich (2-2, 2-0) held off a furious comeback in the Interstate Eight.
Hollenbeck, who finished with 247 yards in 16 carries, scored on runs of 5, 34 and 91. Thielk had 156 yards in 37 attempts. Thielk scored on a 3-yard run with 9:24 left in the fourth quarter to put Sandwich ahead 41-14, but Lisle rallied as Kevin Crouch hit Joe Cortez with three touchdown passes in the next six minutes.
Crouch was 17-of-25 passing for 422 yards and five touchdowns in a losing effort for Lisle (2-2, 0-2). Mike Pollard caught eight passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns.
Walther Lutheran 63, Aurora Christian 7: Tony Stanton rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns in seven carries for the Broncos (4-0, 2-0), who romped in the Private School League. Stanton has 802 rushing yards for the season.
Waukegan 14, Highland Park 7: Jason Wells and Chris Hinijosa each had rushing touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs (3-1). Ray Winters led Waukegan with 81 yards in 12 carries.