Tanner Westwood went out slinging it.
Westwood delivered one of Waubonsie Valley’s only highlights in Saturday night’s Class 8A second-round game, a 46-yard touchdown pass to Josh LeMoine late in the second quarter.
It was, unfortunately for Westwood, his last pass.
A sprained AC joint in his shoulder suffered two plays before sidelined Westwood for the rest of the night.
“Took a helmet to the shoulder on a run,” said Westwood, Waubonsie’s junior quarterback. “I thought I’d be OK, but that’s football.”
It was that kind of night for Waubonsie.
The 31st-seeded Warriors couldn’t overcome a rough first half and a few injuries in losing to Lincoln-Way East 35-13 in Frankfort.
The Griffins (9-2) scored TDs on all four first-half possessions in rolling out to a 28-6 halftime lead. Senior quarterback Jake Arthur, 15-for-20 for 119 yards, threw for one TD and ran in two more.
“They were the better team and we didn’t play the way I thought we were capable of,” Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy said. “They took it to us and we didn’t have an answer for it unfortunately.”
Waubonsie (6-5) only managed one first down in its first three drives while Lincoln-Way East was having its way offensively. Warriors tight end Charles Robinson, coming off a record-breaking four-TD game in a first-round upset of Hinsdale Central, was held to one catch.
In a play indicative of Waubonsie’s early struggles, Westwood spun around four times to elude defenders, couldn’t find a receiver open, and took a 5-yard loss.
The next possession, though, Westwood scrambled for 18 yards, took a big hit, and two plays later fired to LeMoine 46 yards down the right sideline to draw Waubonsie within 21-6.
“What kind of guts from Tanner there,” Murphy said. “Get hurt the play before and he still throws a touchdown. It’s an incredible effort by him. You could see he was hurting on his face, but he didn’t want to come out.”
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Waubonsie two-way starter Quaid Gill joined Westwood on the sidelines later, suffering an ankle injury on the first series of the second half. Robinson also limped off, but returned.
Warriors senior Connor Yukna, who hadn’t taken a snap all year at quarterback, threw for 83 yards and ran for 48 in the second half.
Nate Ashford’s 4-yard TD run in the game’s final seconds accounted for Waubonsie’s other score.
“They’re a good football team,” said Westwood, who was 4-for-7 for 70 yards. “Everybody was getting hurt, and we didn’t have the right pieces. It’s just a shame seeing that.”
The Warriors do, though, have several significant pieces returning.
Westwood, Robinson and Ashford are all juniors, as is Waubonsie’s two inside linebackers (Josh Dominiak and Kyle Schroeder) and most of its secondary.
“We’re still playing with a lot of juniors and (Lincoln-Way East) was playing with seniors — I thought that was a major difference in this ballgame,” Murphy said. “We have a heck of a lot to look forward to. We’ll bounce back. We’ll learn from this and get better.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.