Joliet West powers its way to win over Plainfield East

Tigers’ Zilinger runs for 200 yards

JOLIET – Joliet West running back James Zilinger was coaxed by his teammates to ring the victory bell Friday night.

He certainly had earned it.

Zilinger ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns for Joliet West as it earned its first victory of the season, 36-30, over visiting Plainfield East.

“We had a rough start, but to get that W, it felt great,” Zilinger said. “To come together as a team, that was great.”

Joliet West quarterback Skyar Crudup scrambles out of the backfield on Friday, April 2, 2021, at Joliet West High School in Joliet, Ill.

Joliet West (1-2) was looking to rebound from a disappointing overtime loss to Romeoville in Week 2, for Zilinger and his teammates Plainfield East provided an opportunity for some redemption.

“Having that loss after going into the week expecting to win, coming back in on Monday everything changed,” Zilinger said. “Our mindset was that if we wanted to win, we had to work harder and get better, day by day.”

The new mindset came in handy in a game that went back and forth all night.

The lead changed hands three times in the third quarter alone, before Zilinger made it a two-score West advantage with his third touchdown run of the game from nine yards out early in the fourth quarter.

Plainfield East (1-2) tried to rally, trimming the margin to six points (36-30) on a Jordan Knowles touchdown reception with just over four minutes to play. But Joliet West was able to grind out the remaining seconds on the clock with its power running game, fittingly sealing the outcome on a 31-yard run by Zilinger on third down.

“We challenged them. Again, Romeoville came in here and beat us, they had more points at the end of the game, but when you go back and look at it we had opportunities we didn’t capitalize on. So that’s what we focused on tonight, not making those same mistakes,” Joliet West coach Bill Lech said. “We knew they were going score to a lot, so we had to respond to that. We did it together, but Zilinger ran like a man possessed.”

Zilinger finished with 200 yards on 31 carries and the Tigers also got a boost from Ena Dorcoo who added 99 yards on only six carries. Joliet West finished with 360 yards rushing and just short of 500 yards of total offense in the game.

The first half largely was a scrum. Both teams struggled to get sustain drives, but both showed the propensity to make the big play.

A large portion of the Plainfield East offense in the first half came from the connection between Brett Winiecki and Michael Morgan who hooked up three times for 127 yards. The third reception, of 57 yards, set up a 10-yard touchdown run from Taven Washington which gave the Bengals a 16-14 halftime lead.

Plainfield East quarterback Brett Winiecki rushes for a touchdown on Friday, April 2, 2021, at Joliet West High School in Joliet, Ill.

That was a direct response to a big play from Joliet West, a 59-yard scamper from Karson Cotton on a reverse that led to a 2-yard touchdown from James Zilinger that gave the Tigers a momentary 14-8 advantage.

Plainfield East’s quarterback Brett Winiecki accounted for 317 yards of total offense (250 passing, 67 rushing) in the loss.