Defense sets the tone in Maine West's season-opening win
The Maine West football team opened its season in fine fashion Saturday afternoon at Proviso East in a nonconference game.
The Warriors took home a 14-0 win over the Pirates, an outcome Maine West hopes to build on.
"I think we can do some great things with this team this year," said Warriors defensive end Malik Siem. "We need to keep our focus. We won today because we did our job on defense. My job today was to fend off the offensive tackle and keep the running backs pinned inside."
Maine West's interior defense came through, limiting the Pirates to just 2 rushing yards and 35 passing yards.
Marteen Robinson helped out on the defense with a interception to stop a potential Pirates drive.
"Our defense was unbelievable," said Maine West coach Jason Kradman. "They just played lights out. They never let them get anything going."
Kradman pointed out that the offense struggled at times due to penalties (8 for 65 yards).
"Penalites put us behind the chains," added Kradman. "There were plays to be made but we missed out on them. I thought our offensive line played much better in the second half."
The Warriors scored on their first possession of the game. Matt Kentgen's 21-yard reception in the corner of the end zone from quarterback Sam Kindle gave Maine West a 7-0 lead with 6:19 left in the first quarter.
The drive went 71 yards in 12 plays.
"We scored," said Kentgen, "because of the running of (Anthony) Henley. He helped open up Sam's (Kindle) passing game."
Henley, a transfer from Evanston, pounded the Pirates' defense for 167 yards in 31 trips.
Henley keyed the Warriors' second touchdown by rushing 6 times for 45 yards during an 8-play, 63-yard drive.
Kentgen caught his second touchdown pass on a one-handed leap in the end zone on a 24-yard pass from Kindle.
Jonathan Fierro kicked both conversion attempts.
"A lot of work went into the off-season by us," said Kentgen. "We really worked well with the coaches. This was a big win for us to start the season off right. We wanted to get rolling early and this was a good starting point."
The Warriors, who host Larkin next Friday, pounded out 298 yards of offense.
"I think we played pretty well," said Kradman. "We have more depth and mobility than what we've had in the past few seasons. We're excited about what this team can be."