After starting 3-0 for the first time in more than a decade, the following three weeks were unkind to the Plainfield East football team. Three consecutive losses and only one of them within a score left the Bengals hungry for a victory.

Likewise, Joliet West was looking to bounce back from a rough loss to Oswego the week before Friday night. Moreover, the Tigers were looking to pick up a big homecoming victory.

In a fight between hungry Bengals and hungry Tigers, it was the Bengals that came out on top.

Plainfield East scored three touchdowns in the first half in a contest that surely won’t score either team any style points, but it amounted to a 27-7 victory for the Bengals all the same. Those 27 points are the only ones that matter to Plainfield East.

“It feels good just going out here after losing the last three weeks and handling our business,” coach Dan Stekala said. “Being on the winning side again just feels awesome.”

It was far from pretty. The two teams combined for nine three-and-outs, seven turnovers with an additional five fumbles that didn’t result in a turnover, and a whopping 21 flags thrown. 17 of those penalties were accepted.

But at the end of the night, the Bengals were victorious for the fourth time this season. With one more, Plainfield East would be in position for a playoff berth for the first time since 2021.

“We’re finally getting out of that slump,” running back David Croom III said. “There’s a lot of doubt with us because we haven’t had the most success in the past. We have a chip on our shoulders and we’re trying to prove people wrong all the time.”

Plainfield East struck first midway through the opening quarter. Quarterback Brady Cloherty hit Markeith Taylor for a 33-yard touchdown strike to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers seemed to be on their way to tying the game up midway through the second when Andrew Santiago plunged up the middle from the Plainfield East four-yard line. Linebacker Camden McCloskey stripped Santiago of the ball, however, and ripped off a 96-yard fumble recovery touchdown. The missed extra point resulted in a 13-0 score.

Croom extended the lead to 20-0 on a one-yard run with 23 seconds to go in the opening half.

Joliet West managed to get on the board in the third when Savon Jamison ran in from four yards out with 3:38 left til the fourth. However, that drive took up most of the period.

The Bengals responded in the fourth with another TD run by Croom to give the game its final score.

Croom led the offensive effort with 152 yards on the ground and the two scores. Colin Dominiak led the defense with a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and sack.

“This does a lot for team morale,” Dominiak said. “We haven’t been in the playoffs for a couple of years so this win has been huge for us. We’re in the hunt and this is going to get our morale up going into the final weeks.”

Now, the Bengals (4-3) will have home games against Romeoville and Plainfield Central. A fifth win would put them in a good position to make the playoffs, but six would essentially guarantee it.

For Joliet West (2-5), it’s on to Plainfield Central and Joliet Central. It will have to win both to have even a sliver of a chance to make the postseason.

“We talk about playing for each other and that’s the mentality moving forward,” coach Dan Tito said. “We are a community so no matter what the first thing we’re always playing for is each other. We’re going to continue doing that the next two weeks.”