Lincoln-Way East defensive tackle Nick Straka was at a loss for words Friday night.
Who could blame him?
The Griffins surrendered a fourth-quarter lead to Oak Park-River Forest midway through the fourth quarter and lost 14-13 when they couldn’t finish the ensuing drive, turning the ball over on downs when a fourth-and-1 run by bulldozing running back Liam Morrissey was stopped short..
“I’m pretty shocked we couldn’t get that extra yard on fourth-and-1,” Straka said. “We couldn’t drive them back. I’m amazed. I really can’t even speak right now.”
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The Huskies’ athletic front seven played its part. Linebackers Sam Francis, Jahmari Moore and Connor Nelson made plays all night, and quarterback Jeremy Hunt hit Breshawn Wilkerson from 7 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown midway through the final quarter.
Straka, who had a sack and two tackles for loss, knows how difficult it is to disrupt East’s mammoth offensive line, which averages 244 pounds.
“Repping against our O-line in practice everyday, they fight hard and they’re good,” Straka said. “I don’t know what happened (Friday).”
East (0-1) struck first on a 7-yard keeper from quarterback Brandon Bauer to start the second quarter after the team was held without a first down on its first four drives. Bauer’s TD was set up by a 70-yard punt return by Jayison McCorkle.
But East struggled to get its running game in gear against the Huskies (1-0). Morrissey ran for 105 yards on 28 carries, but he was largely bottled up through three quarters. On the decisive fourth-and-1 play in the fourth, Morrissey was stopped behind the line of scrimmage by Allen Stallings.
“Fourth-and-1 down here, you don’t get it, maybe you don’t deserve to win the game,” East coach Rob Zvonar said. “They were stacking the middle up. I think they wanted to take away Liam — some of the inside gaps — and force us to pass the ball. We weren’t able to get receivers open enough to take pressure off the run game.”
Bauer finished 8-for-17 for 62 yards and an interception. He added 30 yards on 10 carries.
East took a 13-7 lead after a pair of field goals from Nicholas Jenig, who hit from 26 and 30 yards.
Less than two minutes after the second field goal, Oak Park-River Forest drove 80 yards on seven plays before Wilkerson found the end zone. Shifty running back Antonio Cannon made the big play of the night, scampering 60 yards on second-and-long to put the Huskies at East’s 21.
“It was hard fought game,” Straka said. “We had it the whole time and just fell apart at the end.”
Cannon totaled 129 yards on 11 carries. Hunt finished 19-for-34 for 142 yards. He was picked off twice by Sean Maloney and Sean Reyna.
“Credit Oak Park,” Zvonar said. “I know enough about this group to know a Week 1 loss will turn into a positive and will help us down the road. Maybe we got caught up reading our own press clippings and hoping someone else would get it done out here. We’ve got a long way to go and we’ll right the ship.”
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.