Lincoln-Way East holds off Montini
By Tim Young For Sun-Times Media September 1, 2012 12:12AM
Lincoln-Way Central's Brian Wildman (21) and Lincoln-Way West's Andrew Gray dive for the ball after Wildman fumbled it during their football game in New Lenox Friday, August 31, 2012. West recovered the fumble. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 3, 2012 6:19AM
It wasn’t supposed to be this easy.
Lincoln-Way East may be the SouthtownStar’s No. 3 team, and it may be an unwavering offensive machine, but the Griffins were visting a Montini squad still shrouded in the haze of the fireworks it set off while scoring 70 points in winning the Class 5A state title game in November. Moreover, Montini was coming in off a Week 1 win in which it had scored 40 points.
So, what happened?
The Griffins scored on their first two possessions. An interception on the first play of the second half set up another score, and the Sun-Times’ No. 11 team held on to beat the No. 7 Broncos 20-14.
Lincoln Way East quarterback Tom Fuessel, picking up where he left off in a 31-6 Week 1 win over Carmel, completed 8 of 13 passes for 81 yards and rushed for another 108 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Nick Colangelo assisted Fuessel in the running game as he carried the ball 20 times for 94 yards.
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” Colangelo said. “We’re focusing on each Friday. Now it’s Lockport.”
Against Montini, East moved out to a 17-7 halftime lead.
On the first play of the second half, Griffins linebacker Adam O’Grady picked off Alexander Wills and returned the ball to the Broncos’ 5-yard line.
The Broncos did have an opportunity late to win the game after a blocked punt by Fred Beaugard set up a touchdown pass to Tyler Tumpane, but Montini failed to recover the onside kick.
