Despite a temperature that felt like 100 degrees at game time on Friday, Lake Park ran its offense at an up-tempo pace.
But Wheaton North running back Mac Murray and his teammates on the offensive line countered with their own tempo.
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Murray carried the ball 34 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns, including a 1-yard blast up the middle that capped the scoring with 1:54 left on the clock, as the unbeaten Falcons won 24-15 in the DuKane Conference opener at Bob Monken Field in Roselle.
“I didn’t do it at all,” he said, crediting linemen Kevin Petruczenko, Connor Weldon, Andersen Walker, Charlie Surber and one other.
“Today our inside runs were there. We had a sophomore lineman get pulled up, named Will Howser, and he was working his butt off. Just loved to see a ton of effort out of everybody, and it was a great day.”
Lake Park (1-2) motored 90 yards to score on its first possession. Quarterback Taysean Smith captained the Lancers, who were assisted by a couple of penalties by the Falcons (3-0) that resulted in first downs, and Matthew Grinvalds bounced outside on a run for a 3-yard TD. Logan Boebel’s kick gave Lake Park a 7-0 lead at 2:56 of the first quarter.
But just 32 seconds later, Wheaton North quarterback Burke Neibch hit tight end Adam Schilling on a deep post for a 51-yard TD. Athletic Wheaton North defensive lineman Andrew Segura then made an interception that led to Murray’s first TD, a 14-yarder in which the line kept plowing forward.
Wheaton North, which didn’t convert an extra point in the game, took an 18-7 lead with 1:30 left in the first half on Murray’s second TD, a 1-yard run up the gut.
Having lost momentum, Lake Park regained it, and the ball, with a fumble recovery in the third quarter. That led to another long scoring drive as the Lancers used 14 plays to go 78 yards. Alexander Gavrylyuk scored on a 6-yard run, and Smith added the 2-point conversion to pull the Lancers within 18-15 at 1:03 of the third quarter.
Smith finished with 75 rushing yards and 177 passing yards, and TJ Ogunribido had 48 yards receiving.
After Schilling’s sack, Jonathan Clayton’s interception got the ball back for the Falcons’ closing touchdown drive.
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“Very proud of what the line did,” Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said, noting center Austin Pierce’s injury in the first half.
“We needed a drive there at the end, and we were able to put one together and punch another score in and get the separation that we needed to to get a two-score lead.”