West Chicago enjoying new tradition
Peyton Seidler and West Chicago's other senior football players were all too familiar with the Wildcats program's dismal tradition.
They've heard the lowlights - one state playoff berth and two winning seasons in three decades and one victory or less in each of the last five seasons primarily facing some of Illinois' premier teams in the rugged DuPage Valley Conference.
Last summer the seniors decided to do something about it.
Entering their second year in the Upstate Eight Conference, Seidler and company committed themselves to creating a new tradition of winning and begin erasing West Chicago's reputation as an automatic win on opponents' schedules. The seniors' mission took another step forward Friday night when the Wildcats defeated Elgin 32-12.
The homecoming victory in front of a large and boisterous Memorial Stadium crowd gave West Chicago its second win for the first time since 2008. At 2-2 overall, the Wildcats haven't been .500 this deep into a season since 2005.
"It's been amazing so far," said Seidler, West Chicago's senior quarterback. "I love being part of starting a new tradition of winning and starting a new winning culture here. It all starts with the seniors. Our senior leaders all got together and talked about changing the culture here, talked about our plays and football and playing catch together and working out together. It's exciting to see the results changing on the field."
West Chicago (1-1 Upstate Eight River) wasted little time building an early lead Friday night. An interception by senior linebacker Mike Otzwirk at midfield set up a 4-play, 48-yard drive capped by Seidler's 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wideout Alex Mitchell that pushed the Wildcats in front 6-0 four minutes into the game.
West Chicago's defense then turned Elgin over on downs on the ensuing possession, and the offense struck again, pounding the ball on the ground before senior tailback Danny Lazzerini plunged into the end zone for a 1-yard score with 1:22 left in the first quarter. Senior running back Parrish Benton added a 2-point conversion for a 14-0 lead. The speedy Benton and power-running Lazzerini combined to rush for 148 yards in the opening half against a small Elgin defensive front, many of whom start on both sides of the ball.
"For us to be successful, we knew we had to develop a running game," said Ted Monken, the first-year West Chicago coach who has enjoyed success with various programs, including St. Charles East. "Tonight was a great night to show improvement in that area. Parrish and Danny formed a good 1-2 punch. They both did a tremendous job. By sharing the load in the backfield, they keep each other fresh and complement each other well with their differing running styles."
The Wildcats' defense continued flustering Elgin's offense, and when senior linebacker Steve Gutowski picked off a pass and returned it deep into Maroons territory, West Chicago cashed in again on a 13-yard TD strike from Seidler to senior tight end Zach Ullman for a 20-0 advantage with 1:29 remaining in the first half.
But despite missing three key starters and having to play several starters both ways, Elgin refused to quit. Quarterback Dontrell Gaddy entered the game and provided an immediate spark, leading the Maroons (0-4, 0-2) on a 47-yard drive in just 59 seconds climaxed by a 2-yard keeper for a touchdown that kept Elgin's hopes alive at 20-6.
West Chicago regained command on the second-half kickoff, pooch-kicking the ball to an empty area of the field and recovering the football at Elgin's 19-yard line. Four plays later, Lazzerini punched it in from 2 yards out for a 26-6 edge.
"We went into the half with some momentum, and then they regained the momentum to start the third quarter with the fumble recovery," Elgin coach Kyle Rohde said.
The Maroons stayed within striking range when Gaddy returned a punt 61 yards to slice West Chicago's lead to 26-12. But the Wildcats' defense bottled up Elgin the rest of the game, and Benton capped a 77-yard, five-minute drive with a 9-yard TD run to secure a satisfying win for the Wildcats, who will try to improve their record to 3-2 on next week at Larkin.
"We're excited," Seidler said. "There are still teams on our schedule that we can hang with and compete against. We feel like we can do a lot more. We want to keep moving ahead and making progress."