Lincoln-Way East runs past Bolingbrook

FRANKFORT — There was obviously loads of anticipation on both sides of Friday night’s Southwest Suburban Conference matchup between rivals and Class 8A strongholds Bolingbrook and Lincoln-Way East.

Some, such as Lincoln-Way East running back Jamal Johnson, were more ready than most.

On the first play from scrimmage, Johnson tore through the line and scored on a 70-yard touchdown run, setting the stage for a big night for the Bowling Green committed senior as Lincoln-Way East earned a 42-14 win over Bolingbrook.

“I just saw open daylight from the get-go, the lineman did everything for me,” Johnson said. “I’m just blessed to get out here and compete with my guys.”

But as impressive as Johnson’s gallivanting around the field was, the effort of the Griffins’ defense might have been more impressive. The Griffins held Bolingbrook to negative rushing yardage until late in the game and harassed Bolingbrook’s pass heavy offensive attack into six interceptions, including three by Sevren Stuckey. Stuckey converted from the wide receiver position to the secondary during the lengthy time between seasons.

“I love it,” Stuckey said of the position switch. “I love where I am right now. Honestly, I was just trying to go in do my alignment and do my job. And I knew greatness was going to come after. I feel like I found a home. I feel like I found a home on my island. Anything to help the team. I’m a team player. If these guys wanted me at line, at anything, I’ll do it.”

Stuckey’s performance was just a piece of an overall dominating defensive effort from the Griffins, a unit that needed to replace a lot from last year’s state championship team.

“We had to adjust and really play pass defense,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “I thought our defensive line was relentless overall. I was really proud of them. This time of year I think defenses are going to be a little ahead of offenses and I thought you saw that tonight. But I think our offense got into some rhythm as the game went along.”

After Johnson’s quick touchdown burst to start the game, the two teams locked up in a trench war as Johnson continued to stack up the yardage. A 41-yard run set up another Lincoln-Way East scoring drive as Sean Walsh found Max Tomczak for a 30-yard score to stretch the Lincoln-Way East lead to 14-0.

Bolingbrook did not roll over. Already demonstrating a different offensive attack than most are accustomed to, Bolingbrook’s new pass heavy attack cashed in a dividend after Tyler McLaurin picked off a pass and put the Raiders inside the Lincoln-Way East 20.

The Raiders’ Vincenzo Meschi hooked up with Andrew McElroy for a 16-yard touchdown to slice the Lincoln-Way East lead in half and they appeared on the verge of coming even closer after recovering a fumble on the kickoff. But Lincoln-Way East netted their second interception of the day, this time by Henry Woods followed by a long return. But the half expired on a missed field goal attempt and Lincoln-Way East went into half with a 14-7 lead.

In the second half, things quickly came unraveled as Lincoln-Way East continued to cash in on turnovers by Bolingbrook. Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game on a short run, Jack Tremblay hauled in a touchdown pass from Sean Walsh and Connor Kubik opened the early stages of the fourth quarter with a short touchdown run. And then just three plays after Kubik’s TD run, JC Vander kooi picked off a pass and ran it back for a score.

Over a stretch of about eight minutes, Lincoln-Way East took a close game and turned it into a runaway.

Bolingbrook punched in a touchdown in the final minute of the game on a short Justin Lynch touchdown run.