Addison Trail blasts Morton
Addison Trail has blasted off to a quick start this season, and the Blazers kept streaking on Friday.
A stingy defense and a late arriving offense propelled host Addison Trail to 35-0 West Suburban Gold football victory over Morton.
Addison Trail is off to its best start ever as the Blazers reached 5-0, with a 3-0 mark in the WSG.
The Blazers defense propelled by senior linebackers Kevin Kent and Mike Imperiale pitched its third shutout of the season and has only allowed 13 total points in five games.
Senior Anthony Catanese caught 5 passes for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns, rushed for another touchdown, and also added an interception for the Blazers.
“It’s a very special group,” said Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet of his senior-heavy Blazers. “We play at a high level on defense and we’re fast. I’m really pleased that after starting slow on offense, we started moving the ball like I anticipated.”
Addison Trail defense once again came up big. The Blazers had 6 sacks, including two by Kent and junior lineman Dylan Domek.
Addison Trail shut down the Morton offense, allowing 110 total yards, with 10 rushing yards. The Morton (2-3, 1-2) offense only crossed midfield once in a dominating performance by the Blazers.
“We just play together,” Kent said of the Blazers defense. “Everybody is always on the same page; 5-0 is a good start, but we still have some tough games left. It was good to get the shutout.”
Addison Trail senior quarterback Trevor Bermingham went 7 of 14, for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bermingham found Catanese on the opening play for a 46 yard gain that set up Catanese 2 yard plunge giving the Blazers an early 7-0 advantage.
Morton contained the Blazers until two minutes remained in the opening half. Catanese scored his second touchdown on a 19-yard catch.
After a quick three and out by the Addison Trail defense, a Catanese 41-yard reception set up a 2-yard score by Anthony Messina as the Blazers stretched their advantage to 21-0 at halftime.
“We’ve been practicing that two-minute drill,” said Catanese who added a 22-yard scoring catch in the third quarter to give the Blazers a 28-0 advantage. “It paid off for us today. And I can’t say enough about the defense, we play as a unit.”
Messina added a 99-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to push the Blazers advantage to 35-0.
The game was delayed for 30 minutes when Morton junior Emil Johnson took a hit on defense and had to be attended to by the medical staff. Johnson was taken to a local hospital.
“It’s always tough when that happens,” said Morton coach Bob Organ. “He had some neck pain. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.”