James Kwiecinski runs for 4 TDs, Lincoln-Way East remains undefeated with 52-14 handling of Homewood-Flossmoor

FLOSSMOOR – Lincoln-Way East demonstrated conclusively Friday night why it’s not only 7-0, but hounding Loyola Academy for the No. 1 statewide spot in Class 8A.

The Griffins rolled into Homewood-Flossmoor and acted as if they owned the place, administering a 52-14 beating to the hosts to remain undefeated overall and advance to 3-0 in the SouthWest Suburban Blue. James Kwiecinski ran for four touchdowns, two over a 4-minute, 1-second span in the second quarter to break the game open.

“We work so hard, and this is the outcome,” Kwiecinski said. “No words can explain it.”

Kwiecinski gained 107 yards on 23 carries. His touchdowns came from 2, 1, 6 and 4 yards out, for both him and the Griffins as a unit. And a unit they are.

In short, it was a good tune-up for next week’s clash with defending 8A champion Lockport.

The Griffins, posting their high point total for the season, dominated except for two big rushing plays by the Vikings. H-F’s Kamrin Cox ran 84 yards around the right side for a touchdown on his third carry, and teammate Jeremiah Turner scooted 81 yards for a touchdown on his first touch of the night with 1:32 left in the first quarter. That made it 14-all, but looks were deceiving.

Otherwise, H-F gained 89 yards all night, just 56 rushing.

“We watched it, saw how to fix it, and we fixed it,” said Hank Ravatto, the senior among the three-man defensive front. “We knew how to anchor down. Everyone on the D-line was working hard.”

“We made a little change, but it wasn’t so much schematic,” Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said. “It was waking up and playing better. We pride ourselves on not giving up big plays, especially on the ground, but we responded. We played three quarters of pretty solid defense. We can’t relax.”

Lincoln-Way East soon controlled the game, picking up first downs with monotonous regularity – 14 in the first half alone – and running the clock as well thanks to Kwiecinski, fellow running back Petey Olaleye, and their blockers.

“It’s such a well-balanced offense,” Zvonar said of his group. “You can’t key on this guy, because we’ve got this guy. It’s across the board. Every week, it’s a different guy.”

Defensively, East’s big three up front – Ravatto, junior David Wuske and sophomore Caden O’Rourke, who average 6-foot-3, 222 pounds — gave H-F quarterback Cam Oglesby fits, sacking him three times and harrying him consistently.

“They’re both going to be studs in the years to come,” Ravatto said of Wuske and O’Rourke, the latter emulating his big brother Devin, now at Northwestern. All played last year, even O’Rourke on varsity for a short spell.

“They’re beasts up front,” East quarterback Braden Tischer said. “Sometimes I watch them throw that quarterback down and go, ‘Geez, glad I’m not in that spot.’ ”

Tischer was 12-of-18 for 249 yards and two touchdowns.