Fuessel powers Lincoln-Way East past Homewood-Flossmoor
By Pat Disabato pdisabato@southtownstar.com September 14, 2012 11:48PM
H-F’s Jakari Rowe is tackled by Lincoln-Way East’s Damon Davis (10) and Vashon Nutt (11) during Friday’s game. | John Patsch~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 17, 2012 6:27AM
Lincoln-Way East quarterback Tom Fuessel may have been regarded primarily as a running threat entering the season. The senior not only has exceptional speed, running the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, he’s also very elusive.
But on Friday against Homewood-Flossmoor, Fuessel showed he also can provide damage with his arm.
Fuessel completed 5-of-9 passes for 91 yards, including a pivotal 39-yard strike, and also registered 133 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead No. 3 Lincoln-Way East to a 35-20 victory over No. 8 H-F in a SouthWest Suburban Blue battle in Frankfort.
“Tom is special,” East coach Rob Zvonar said. “We saw it all night tonight. Both with his legs and his arm. The kid can do it all.”
It was Fuessel’s 39-yard strike to Justin Corbett on a third-and-13 from the Griffins 34-yard line that was arguably his biggest play of the night. The completion allowed East to maintain possession and eventually tack on a score that stretched its lead to 28-14 with 10:28 left in the game.
“That was a huge pass,” Zvonar said.
Fuessel reached pay dirt on runs of 8 and 16 yards. His consecutive runs of 21 and 44 yards in the second quarter brought the capacity crowd to its feet and led to a 5-yard score by Corbett that gave the Griffins a 14-7 lead at the half.
“We’ve been working hard, and the passing is coming around,” Fuessel said. “If we can continue to pass the ball like this, it’s only going to open up our running game more.”
Brian Casey added scoring runs of 1 and 21 yards for East (4-0, 1-0), the latter coming with under a minute to go in the game.
H-F (3-1, 0-1) received a pair of TD passes from Ron Johnson (15-of-24, 106 yards). His first, to Vashon Nutt, tied the game at 7. His second, to Taje Smith, got the Vikings to within 28-20 with 5:26 to go in the game.
Smith, who rushed for 124 yards, scored from 32 yards with 1:08 left in the third to make it 21-14.
East’s defense, led by Kyle Langenderfer and Adam O’Grady, had Johnson on the move most of the night.
