Lisle shuts out Westmont

It wasn’t pretty, but in the standings it’s a win for Lisle as they defeated Westmont 28-0 in an Interstate Eight Conference Small Division game on Friday in Lisle.

Cliff Krause paced the Lions, scoring 3 touchdowns and rushing for 131 yards.

The Sentinels did recover a couple of fumbles, but their offense couldn’t take advantage and break through an aggressive Lions defense that picked off four passes. First-year Sentinels coach Otto Zeman brought a run-and-gun offense to Westmont, but the team could only muster a total of 104 yards of offense for the game.

The Lions’ Kyle Hendzel intercepted quarterback Tim Doll on the second play of the game at the Sentinels’ 31-yard line. Two plays later, Krause ran the ball in for his first touchdown of the game to give the Lions a quick 7-0 lead.

The Lions (4-3, 3-2) were prone to penalties throughout the game and fumbles. Coach Dan Sanko wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance.

“Ugly,” Sanko said. “We looked like we were off today. It was uncharacteristic of us of all the penalties in the first half and turnovers. We were lucky to be 14-0 at the half. We’re happy to come out of here with a win. We have to clean some things up.”

The Lions relied heavily on their running game. Krause and Kevin Coppin combined for 234 yards. Coppin also scored a touchdown.

“That’s the way we been all year,” Sanko said. “We moved the ball pretty much against anybody. These guys block for each other pretty well. That was our game plan.”

The Lions were without starting quarterback Griffin Huba, who sustained a shoulder injury in last week’s loss to Wilmington. Huba did play on defense, but sophomore quarterback Alec Van Volkenburg was pressed to start his first game for the varsity.

“At first before the game I was really nervous,” Van Volkenburg said. “Once I got the first couple of plays out of me I felt a lot more confident in my team. Once I got that touchdown pass, I felt like I could anything.”

The Sentinels (1-6, 1-4) went three and out late in the third quarter. With the ball on the Lions’ 30-yard line, Van Volkenburg lifted an airmail strike to Krause, who pulled the ball down while on the run for a 70-yard pass play. That gave the Lions a 21-0 lead and put the game out of reach for the Sentinels.

“(Van Volkenburg) came up and played big,” Krause said. “He played like a senior would, and that was key for us winning the game.”

The win also gave the Lions the “Old Plank Trophy.” The traveling trophy is given to the Westmont-Lisle winner. The trophy is named after Old Plank Road, now Ogden Avenue, which is the main road running between the neighboring schools. Lisle holds a 6-2 advantage in the series since its inception in 2006.