Plainfield North grinds out win over Evanston

PLAINFIELD – Plainfield North running back Jared Gumila had to work hard for every one of his 107 rushing yards Saturday night.

The Tigers defense also was challenged by the athleticism of Evanston in the Class 8A first-round playoff game.

But putting in the work doesn’t bother Plainfield North, and it showed in a 23-13 victory that advanced the Tigers to the second round of the 8A playoffs where they will face Maine South this weekend at a date and time yet to be determined.

“That’s just kind of become our philosophy,” Plainfield North coach Anthony Imbordino said. “We’re going to play great defense, run the football and try to control the tempo of the clock.”

Evanston started fast, completing a 33-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. But Plainfield North put the clamps down and blocked a field goal to squelch that opening drive. The WIldkits kept charging after getting the ball back and took the early lead on a 25-yard connection from Henry Liss to Kamau Ransom that gave Evanston a 7-0 lead.

Plainfield North’s offense still couldn’t find its footing and quickly punted to Evanston. The Wildkits fumbled the ball to Plainfield North, the first of a series of miscues large and small that Evanston would suffer over the course of the game.

The Tigers deviated from their ground-based attack to move the ball through the air and cashed in with a 4-yard TD run from Gumila on the second play of the second quarter. The Tigers did miss the extra point and trailed, 7-6.

A series of penalties thwarted a promising drive for Evanston, and Plainfield North made them pay with a balanced run/pass drive that ended with Harrison Klein finding Sean Schlanser loose in the secondary for a 34-yard score. Gumila added a 2-point run to give Plainfield North a 14-7 lead which it carried into halftime.

Evanston quickly scored another touchdown early in the third quarter when Gio Milan-Pryor got loose for a 25-yard scoring run. But another one of those miscues came back to bite the Wildkits as the potential game tying extra point clanked off the upright and left them trailing, 14-13.

Plainfield North’s next possession showed the value of sticking to the game plan. Gumila was a battering ram on the drive, moving the chains with regularity. When he didn’t, Evanston helped the issue along with a pair of personal foul penalties that eventually led to Gumila to smashing his way in from three yards out.

“I just kept running hard, that’s all I was thinking,” Gumila said. “Right now, we’re just peaking at the right time. We’re just getting stuff done the whole game, but especially at the end.”

Plainfield North’s defense tightened considerably after getting the late third-quarter score, forcing a punt then garnering an interception from Trystan Myerscough. The Tigers appeared to be on their way to a score to finish things off, but was stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the one. Moments later, the Tigers defense stuffed Evanston for a safety and sealed the win.

“Evanston has some dudes over there. We were nervous about how we were going to deal with their speed coming in,” Imbordino said. “The defense has been lights out all year. We just did an outstanding job. We were happy with the result.”