It was a game with first place at stake in the Southwest Suburban Conference. A game that pitted two unbeaten teams and a pair of schools that have made six straight playoff appearances each.
And both had a runner-up finish in the state finals within the past two years.
But Homewood-Flossmoor dominated the first half of its homecoming game Friday night against Lincoln-Way West before overcoming sloppy play in the second half for a 27-11 win before a full house in Flossmoor.
The Vikings (5-0, 3-0) used big runs and a stingy defense to put away Lincoln-Way West (4-1, 2-1). In previous years, the Vikings played in the Southwest Suburban Blue, and Lincoln-Way West in the Red.
Vikings linebacker Robert Venegeas, who had two tackles for loss, understood the significance of the victory.
“It’s a huge win because we’re playing for conference now with the combined conferences,” Venegas said. “You can never underestimate them. We played really well; we had a let up in the third quarter. We had a great week of practice.”
H-F utilized a variety of running backs to gain big yards, starting with Tyler Nutall, who sprinted 46 yards on the game’s opening play. Four plays later, the Vikings had a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard run by Herbert Hughes.
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Quarterback Bryant Wright went to the air to move the Vikings downfield on their second possession, hitting Tyrice Richie for 42 yards. Wright threw a 20-yard TD pass to Justin Hall to cap the drive for a 14-0 lead.
Wright finished with 81 yards on 18 carries and passed for 144.
Hughes then scored on a 5-yard run to make it 21-0 halfway through the second quarter. It was 21-2 at halftime due to a safety when a snap on a punt sailed out of the end zone.
H-F started to pull away early in the third quarter as Richie (4 carries, 132 yards) scored on a 77-yard TD run for 27-2 lead.
“It feels good, I hope we can keep this run going,” Richie said. “We pushed up front.”
It wasn’t over, however. Lincoln-Way West picked up another safety on a gang tackle in the end zone and scored on a 1-yard run by Ryan Robbins in the third quarter to complete the scoring.
Brandon Weaver and Justin Olokun had two tackles for losses for the Vikings, and Weaver added a sack.
H-F outgained the Warriors 436-122. West had allowed just 47 points in its first four games, and Warriors defensive lineman Jordan Telez was undaunted.
“We still think we have a great defense and I think we can get better,” Telez said. “H-F is one heckuva team, they can put up points.
“There were a couple of busted-up plays. We said a couple of weeks ago that we couldn’t let big plays happen. We got down 21-0 and everybody gets down then we have to pick everybody up at halftime.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.