Workhorse Lopez lifts St. Charles E. by Streamwood
No one could blame St. Charles East running back Ramon Lopez if he just wanted to sleep the rest of the weekend. Not after all the work the senior tailback put in on Friday night.
Lopez ran the ball 49 times and rushed for 317 yards, including a pair of touchdowns, to lead the Saints to a 24-6 Upstate Eight River Division win at Streamwood.
“I'm pretty tired,” Lopez said. “But it's all worth it. It really gets me fired up when I am involved that much in the offense. I don't even think about how many times I am running the ball or if I'm getting sore because I just get lost and caught up in the game. Now tomorrow might be a different story. I think a nice ice bath might be in order.”
Lopez actually started out slow with just 17 yards on his first 8 carries, but by late in the first quarter he was picking up steam. During one stretch in the second quarter he had 147 yards on 14 carries.
Lopez accounted for 73 yards on the Saints' first scoring drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal by Nick Candre with 8:56 left in the first half.
The Saints (2-3, 2-1) added a touchdown on their next possession. Quarterback Aiden Wright connected with Candre on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Lopez had a 21-yard run to help set up the touchdown. He finished the first half with 165 yards on the ground.
“The offensive line did a great job of making some adjustments with our blocking schemes after our first few possessions,” said Lopez. “It's great knowing I have a group like that in front of me. I could run behind those guys all day. “
Lopez added touchdown runs of 1 and 14 yards in the second half.
“He's our bread and butter,” East coach Bryce Farquhar said. “He's an amazing athlete. We like to try to be a little more balanced, but when you have a kid that's getting 8 to 10 yards a pop it's hard not to go with the hot hand and keep giving him the ball.”
The Saints' defense also came up big holding the Sabres (1-4, 1-2) scoreless until the final play of the game. East had 2 interceptions and allowed just 24 yards rushing.
“I can't say enough about how well the defense played tonight,” Farquhar said. “Especially the D-line. They did a great job of taking away the running lanes and getting pressure on their quarterback.”
Streamwood quarterback Max Draper completed 25-of-57 passes for 225 yards. He had a 14-yard touchdown pass to Noah Polich on the final play of the game. Polich had 13 receptions for 163 yards.
“Our offense struggled tonight,” Streamwood coach Mark Orszula said. “We were getting beat up front. We couldn't run the ball and they were getting a lot of pressure. It's something we have to work on.”