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Maine West seizes opportunity, stops Proviso East

Maine West and its fans were energized and ready to play their opening game of the season Friday against visiting Proviso East.

The real excitement, however, didn't start until 7:51 remained in the second quarter.

That's when Warriors senior Michael Alfaro saw a shanked Pirates punt from deep in Proviso East territory bounce in front of him at the 4-yard line.

"I saw the short kick and I wanted the ball," said Alfaro. "I wanted to score for my teammates."

It was such an odd occurence - the punt wasn't blocked but travelled 3 yards backwards - that Alfaro almost hesitated for a moment, as if he wasn't sure how the play would be called.

Then instinct took over and the senior grabbed the football and ran into the zone.

The heads-up play gave the Warriors a 10-0 lead and they went on to a 23-0 victory with a dominant performance by both the offensive and defensive lines.

"Big win for sure," said Alfaro. "We're trying to put the swagger back into Maine West football."

Maine West quarterback Jake Riportella shook off a hard out-of-bounds hit early in the contest to rush for 126 yards and throw for 79 more.

The Warriors held Proviso East to only 90 yards of total offense.

"We were pumped up," said Maine West linebacker Karl Scott. "They beat us last year, so this was a little bit of revenge for us."

Scott opened the scoring in the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal. Then, after Alfaro's score, Riportella ran in from 1 yard out to stake the Warriors to a 16 point halftime lead.

The Maine West defense , which recorded quarterback sacks from Malik Siem, David Budzik, Mike Milewski and Scott, kept the pressure on in the second half.

The Pirates' only scoring chance came early in the final quarter after a Warriors turnover, but what looked like a sure fourth-down touchdown pass from Proviso quarterback Kameron James was broken up at the last second on an athletic play by West cornerback Matt Litas.

Maine West junior running back Marteen Robinson, who finished with 92 yards, put the icing on the cake with a 25 yard scoring run late in the game.

Wide receiver Matt Kentgen pitched in with 3 catches for 46 yards, but Scott added that it was the Warriors coaching staff that deserved a lot of the credit for the win.

After Proviso started the game strong with a 45 yard run from scrimmage by James, Scott said that was "the coaches who kept us going."

"They told us that we'd have adversity," said Scott. "We just had to handle it."

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