Pettis powers Warren past Zion-Benton

The opportunities for Warren senior Melvin Pettis don't come along all that often. Playing behind a returning all-state running back in fellow senior Darrius Crump limits the carries for sure.

So on Friday night, as the Devils hosted Zion-Benton in a North Suburban Conference Lake division contest, Pettis got his opportunity - and he took full advantage of it.

Pettis carried the ball just 5 times on the night, but it was his fourth carry with 8:58 remaining in a tight ballgame that made the difference.

With Warren clinging to a 2-point lead, Pettis broke free and ran away from the speedy Zion defense for a 67-yard scoring play. His scoring run helped the Blue Devils hold off a much-improved Zion team 24-21, earning Warren its third straight win on a bizarre night that saw the stadium lights go out in the third quarter for better than 30 minutes.

The Blue Devils remain in a first place tie with Libertyville after improving to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in NSC Lake play.

"I finally got a chance to get into the game more and I took advantage of my opportunity," said Pettis, who put up his first varsity 100 yard rushing night. He finished with 105 on the ground on just 5 carries.

"Getting the game winning touchdown was important because it helped our team get the win and in the end that's all that mattered."

Warren needed the ground game to chew up the clock first, and second keep Zion-Benton quarterback DeAndre Green off the field. Green tore through the Warren defense for a good part of the night running for 121 yards and throwing for another 149.

"Whatever the team needs me to do, that's what I will do," Green said. "Regardless of the score, we just have to keep going - keep working."

Green seemed to have an answer for every Warren score. After Pettis' run put the Devils up 24-15, Green engineered an 85-yard drive that he capped with his second scoring run of the night. His 5-yard scamper put Zion (2-3, 0-3) within 3 with 1:14 to play.

However, the subsequent on sides kick was recovered by Warren senior Jose Carrasco and the Devils were able to hold on.

"Some of our kids were a little disappointed but Zion is a good football team and a win in our league is a good win no matter what," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. "Some things we can continue to get better at but getting the "W" is important and I'll take that."

Warren got off to the kind of start it needed striking quickly in the opening quarter. On a third and 25 play from their own 18, Kyle Debevic hit speedy Dante Johnson down the seam for an 82-yard scoring play and the Devils were up 7-0.

As quickly as the hosts took the lead, Zion answered and Green did the damage. His 60-yard scoring run brought the Zee-Bees within 7-6. Seventy-one seconds later, Crump, who rushed for 172 yards on 21 carries, broke away for a 35-yard touchdown and Warren was ahead again.

"The last couple of weeks we have been throwing it deep and getting big points," Debevic said. "With everyone keying off that we had to get the running game going tonight and it was good to see."