Lincoln-Way East beats Lincoln-Way West, completes undefeated season

NEW LENOX – There was a moment during Friday night’s Lincoln-Way East vs. Lincoln-Way West showdown where it looked like the game might pivot in the direction of the underdog Warriors.

But they needed a play, one play that would move the sticks and keep the ball away from the Griffins so they could enter halftime with a lead, albeit small, and a bunch of momentum on their side.

That play didn’t come and Lincoln-Way East got the ball back scored before the break and extinguished all Lincoln-Way West’s hopes of an upset bid in the second half with a dominating effort as they collected a 27-7 victory and finished 6-0 on the season.

Lincoln-Way East, Williamsville and Richmond-Burton currently are riding the longest winning streaks in the game at 20 games.

“It was very important for us to finish this way. Six games, leave it all out on the field,” Lincoln-Way East running back Jamal Johnson said. “Coach Z (Zvonar) says all the time to finish and work hard. And we got it done.”

West came out as the aggressor, holding East’s vaunted running attack to limited yardage, while managing to put together the only sustained drive of the first half that ended with a 19-yard touchdown reception by Eric Nowak on a pass from Evan Wydajewski.

It took East nearly the remainder of the first half to counter that score. The Griffins’ ground-based attack was netting yardage, but at a very slow clip as Jamal Johnson piled up carries.

Finally, on his 19th carry of the first half, he crashed into the end zone from four yards out for a touchdown. The point after was no good, however, leaving East trailing with the score 7-6.

Just when it looked as if West might head into halftime with a hard earned, narrow first-half advantage, East struck with the only play that could be classified as a big gainer in the first half with less than two minutes to play before the break.

QB Sean Walsh dropped back in the pocket and aired it out. The play was pretty well covered by West but East simply made it work as Ben Ritter found a little opening, latched onto the ball and raced 61 yards into the end zone. It was the first play of the game that went for more than a 19-yard gain.

East would tack on second-half scores from Walsh and Johnson (28 carries, 185 yards) to widen the gap, allowing the Griffins to become one of the few programs in the state to complete a full spring schedule without a loss.

“It’s bittersweet, of course, because we don’t want to be done right now,” Lincoln-Way East head coach Rob Zvonar said. “But I told them after the game I don’t ever want to experience COVID or spring football again, but if I had to do it, this was the group I wanted to do it with. I love each and every one of them, and for them to persevere through this season, I’m just really proud and honored and privileged to work with this group.”