Waubonsie Valley pounces for win
Like a fumble recovery drill but under Friday night lights, Waubonsie Valley pounced on numerous footballs — and Lake Park.
The Warriors recovered 5 fumbles and intercepted a pass, scoring off every Lancers miscue for a 54-7 homecoming win at Dick Kerner Stadium in Aurora.
“Last week we got the turnovers, we did nothing with it, and that's all we've harped on — sudden change,” said Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy, whose club was hungry after last week's Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division loss to Bartlett.
“We've got to take it and put it in the end zone, and our kids did a nice job of that after the turnovers tonight.”
Lake Park (1-3, 0-2) lost fumbles on its first three possessions plus a kickoff return all within its 41-yard line, and Waubonsie (3-1, 1-1) led 28-0 after one quarter.
“Defense came out and did their job,” said Warriors quarterback Dylan Warden.
Warden began the scoring melee with a 32-yard shake-and-bake keeper. Following were tailback Austin Guido's 5-yard touchdown, linebacker Hugh Griffin's fumble recovery and 25-yard return for touchdown, and Warden's 3-yard flare pass to Demetrius Gray.
A sophomore, Griffin also later intercepted a pass which led to Warden's fourth rushing touchdown of the night for a 54-0 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.
“I realized when they fumbled on the first drive I could have just picked it up and ran,” Griffin said. “So if they did it again I was gonna try to do that. When it happened, I was excited.”
Guido ran for 209 yards on 13 carries, with a 62-yard touchdown run. He said recoveries by Austin Lacke, Malik Spikener, Zac Steele and Tommy Wooten got the team going.
“When you get turnovers like that it makes the offense get really pumped up. And great field position really helps,” said Guido, also crediting offensive linemen Adam Szott, Tony Dilg, Chris Weaver, Ryan Kallas and Steve Mann.
Lake Park, which trailed 40-0 at halftime after Warden touchdown runs of 8 and 20 yards — he finished with 94 yards on 7 carries — broke the ice early in the fourth quarter.
Lancers quarterback Zack Gehant passed to Tyler Smith for a 36-yard touchdown after the fact.
“It's difficult to walk into a game and give the ball up four times, all in our territory, and build off that in any way,” said Lake Park coach Chris Roll. “It's almost like an out-of-body experience.”