T.F. South nips Tinley Park
September 22, 2012 12:08AM
Updated: October 24, 2012 6:28AM
Throughout the season a head coach is faced with decisions that will either make or break a game or a season. T.F. South coach Tom Padjen was faced with a tough decision Friday night on the road against Tinley Park in the Rebels’ 22-21 South Suburban Blue victory.
The Rebels (4-1, 2-0) scored with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter and had an opportunity to tie the game at 21, pending the extra point. Padjen decided against playing for the tie.
“Why kick?” he said. “We were on the road. The momentum was on our side. We were wearing them down.”
The decision was made easier for Padjen as his player supported his decision to go for the lead.
“We had too much momentum,” said running back Saleem Sanford (12 carries, 65 yards 3 TDs, 2 catches, 29 yards), who scored the 2-point conversion and iced the game with an interception with Tinley Park (3-2, 0-2) deep inside South territory. “We wanted to go for it. Coach wanted to run a play-action pass but we said, ‘No, let’s run it.”
The Rebels were down 14-0 with 7:48 to go in the first quarter after a 27-yard TD run by Preston Thompson (22 carries, 117 yards, 2 TDs). On the ensuing kickoff South fumbled and the Titans recovered, leading to another Thompson touchdown run.
“We have no choice but to grind it out and fix the problems,” Tinley Park coach Nick Johnston said. “We can’t make those mistakes.”
Tim Young
