Lockport fends off serious challenge from Lincoln-Way West

Porters sew up playoff berth with victory

Lockport's Cody Silzer celebrates after sacking Lincoln-Way West's Cole Crafton on Friday, Oct.  1, 2021, at Lockport High School in Lockport, IL.

LOCKPORT – One-possession football games often can be distressing to everyone involved.

But that distress was lessened for the Lockport football team Friday night, as the Porters were able to turn things over to their strongest feature – the defense – which was able to secure a 21-13 hard-fought victory over Lincoln-Way West.

After Lockport was forced to release the football with just over a minute to play, the vaunted Porter defense allowed a desperation fourth-down conversion to the Warriors that got the ball near midfield. But the Porters turned them away for good by forcing four consecutive incompletions to allow Lockport to secure the victory.

Lockport improved to 6-0 with the win, clinching a playoff berth in the process. It will be Lockport’s first playoff appearance since 2016 and only the second in the past 10 full seasons.

Early on, it looked like it was going to be yet another runaway win for the Porters as Troy Mutz collected an interception on the first play from scrimmage. It was the first of two Mutz interceptions in the game.

Although Lockport didn’t convert the Mutz interception into points, the Porters eventually got a few things to click offensively. Andrew LoPresti would find himself wide open in the middle of the field and would score from 28 yards out on a pass from Hayden Timosciek late in the first quarter.

Later, the Porters would dip into their bag of tricks, running what appeared to be a reverse that turned into a pass opportunity for wide receiver Ryan Little, who reversed the regular connection between himself and Timosciek by throwing to his quarterback for a 38-yard score.

It wasn’t all rainbows for Lockport in the first half, however. Three fumbles, including one at the Lincoln-Way West 1-yard line, kept Lockport from blowing the game wide open.

Lincoln-Way West (2-4) tried to make the most of Lockport’s inability to shake free of them. The Warriors did something almost no one has been able to do by punching in a touchdown in the third quarter on a well-executed, 19-yard touchdown pass from Cole Crafton to Jason Harris. A missed extra point made it 14-6 at that point, and the matchup easily accounted for the most serious challenge Lockport has faced thus far.

Lockport responded almost immediately with a 39-yard touchdown run by Ty Schultz, and logic seemed to dictate that the Porters might be able to simply salt this one away.

But Lincoln-Way West answered yet again, using the bullishlike running of Justin Harris (27 carries, 114 yards) to set up a 20-yard touchdown pass from Crafton to Caymen Bulthuis where Bulthuis pulled the ball away from the defender on what appeared to be a dual possession grab.