Fenton beats Ridgewood

Fenton needed a wakeup call in Friday's Metro Suburban Conference game against rival Ridgewood. Eron McCoy was happy to deliver.

On a punt return late in the first half, McCoy delivered a crushing block to spring teammate Alan Geneva, who ran 62 yards for a touchdown. That fired up the visiting Bison, who rolled from there to a 39-13 victory over the Rebels in Norridge.

With a 3-1 record in the conference, Fenton is in good position to capture the conference title with two games left to play.

“I just got the ball and took off, Geneva said. “We did not have any momentum until the touchdown was scored.

Geneva's score with 3:07 to play in the second quarter jump-started a run of 26 unanswered points by the Bison, who trailed 7-0 at the time.

“The key was the hit by Eron to spring that punt return and woke our kids up and made them realize that they were in a game, said Fenton coach Mark Kos. “After that we got things rolling.

Running back Chris Butz had a big game for the Bison, scoring 3 touchdowns in the second half while piling up 151 yards on 17 carries. Butz scored from 50, 38 and 9 yards.

Fenton special teams also forced a safety in the second quarter and quarterback Sean Havlovic and tight end Matt Szajnowski linked up for a 29-yard touchdown reception late in the game.

“In the first half we were having trouble getting that middle linebacker, Butz said. “We made some second-half adjustment. We got out center Eddie (Havlovic) to the middle linebacker. I was able to cut upfield and bring it to the house.

The game was marred by some unfortunate chippy play. With 41.9 seconds to play in the third quarter, a fight broke out on the field after a play. Players from both benches stormed the field. Norridge Police and Ridgewood school officials ran onto the field to help the officials restore order.

After about a 15-minute delay five Rebels were ejected and two Fenton players were sent off the field. A couple of fights started off the field among fans.

“There is a natural rivalry between these two schools, Kos said. “Guys got chippy with each other. Unfortunately, it escalated.

Ridgewood struggled after losing its starting quarterback, Joe Jacobsen, to a concussion on the last play before halftime. Jacobsen scored the team's first touchdown on a 1-yard plunge in the first quarter. Greg Coulouris also scored for the Rebels when he returned a kickoff 97 yards late in the third quarter.

“The first half was a little slow, said Ridgewood coach Chris Zack. “We lost some of our big players. It was tough for us in the second half.