Bolingbrook usually likes to throw the ball a little bit. Warren doesn’t.

With the rain, wind and cold in Gurnee on Saturday night, nobody was going to do much through the air. So maybe it’s accurate to say Bolingbrook beat Warren at its own game, advancing in the playoffs with a 20-14 victory.

The Raiders (9-2), winners of eight straight games, will host Fremd next week in an 8A quarterfinal matchup.

“We’ve got some speedsters,” Bolingbrook coach Titcus Pettigrew said. “The wind and the rain played a big role in what we couldn’t do. We just had to fight through it.”

The Raiders eventually found a 1-2 punch in running back TJ Lewis and quarterback Tyson Ward. They each had a touchdown run in the second half as Bolingbrook twice took two-score leads.

For Warren, this game marked the end of a legendary career for running back Aaron Stewart. He went out in appropriate fashion, carrying the ball 43 times for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

“In my 12 years, he’s the greatest we’ve had,” Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. “We’ve had some really, really good ones and he’s the best. It’s sad to see his career come to an end like that. At the same time, he should be happy as the state’s leading rusher. He’s had a great high school career.”

The only scoring in the first half was a 10-yard pick-six by Bolingbrook’s Jordan Lampkins. To open the third quarter, Stewart had his longest run of the night, 35 yards, but the drive stalled.

Bolingbrook took over and Ward completed the only positive passing play by either team, a 25-yard gain to Jeremiah Jenkins. Ward ran it in from 3 yards out to give the Raiders a 12-0 lead with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

“It took us a while to get going,” Pettigrew said. “We knew Warren had a really stout defense. With the weather conditions, it kind of neutralized our speed in the passing game. We had to figure out a way to still move the ball and it took us almost three quarters to get it done.”

Stewart, a two-time state champion in wrestling, always finishes strong. He covered all 60 yards on eight carries as Warren finally scored to make it 12-7.

“He says the only time he gets tired is when he has like 30-yard runs,” McNulty said. “Other than that, because he’s a wrestler, he says those 5-yarders don’t really bother him. He’s a tough kid.”

The Blue Devils needed a defensive stop, but didn’t get it. Ward converted three third downs on the next drive, then Lewis used a nice juke on a 17-yard touchdown run that made it 20-7 with 5:02 remaining.

Stewart gained 60 of 65 yards on Warren’s next drive and his 13-yard TD made it 20-14 with 1:01 left. The Devils sent the kickoff downfield into open space, but Bolingbrook got to the ball first to clinch the win.

Lewis and Ward are both juniors. Pettigrew said 17 of the team’s 22 starters can return next season.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251108/prep-football/bolingbrook-outruns-warren-as-stewarts-stellar-career-ends/