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Warren withstands Mundelein's test

Mundelein's football team did absolutely everything it could to spoil Warren's 100th homecoming.

They blocked a 32-yard field goal, they made two fourth down stops and they converted on a 2-point conversion.

Despite being down 6 points throughout the fourth quarter, Mundelein fell 21-15 to Warren.

"It is a victory," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. "Those are hard to come by. I thought (Mundelein coach) Larry (Calhoun) has resurrected his program. A lot of his kids play with a ton of passion. I think that team is better than their record says. We don't hang our heads because it was that close of a game. We had a lot of for them respect coming in."

The Blue Devils were able to score early on monster plays.

On their first drive, Lukas Schmitt converted his first and only completion on a 49-yard strike to Jalin Tolbert. On the very next drive, running back Melvin Pettis Jr. found a gaping hole and went 69 yards completely untouched, then followed early in the second quarter with a 51-yard scamper.

Warren was up 21-0 with 1:31 to go in the first half but was not able to score for the rest of the game.

Mundelein finally struck gold late in the second quarter.

Quarterback Anthony Norris barged his way through the Blue Devils defense for a 15-yard touchdown run.

"I had my lineman in-front of me and I was yelling 'go-go-go,'" Norris said. "(Aaron Woolford) picked up a guy, and he made it happen, honestly. The o-line played their (tails) off and really helped me out a lot."

The Mustangs also ran right behind running back Aaron Woolford throughout the game. The nephew of former Bears cornerback Donnell Woolford ran for 184 yards on 28 carries.

"(Woolford) is a beast," Norris said. "He was defiantly going down into the hole, carrying the ball and doing his thing tonight."

Woolford was able to run around the entire Warren defense on his late third quarter 20-yard touchdown run that brought the Mustangs within 6.

"I just wanted to get to that end zone," Woolford said. "I just made sure my legs kept going."

However, the Blue Devils defense kept Woolford in check late in the fourth quarter as he rushed for 4 yards on 4 carries.

On the Mustangs' final drive, they converted a fourth-and-8 on an acrobatic catch in midair from receiver Sabian Rivera that went for 21 yards and kept them alive.

However, the next fourth down play for the Mustangs was a sniffed out screen pass that went for no gain. The Mustangs were not able to kill the clock and the game ended on three knees.

"Some balls bounced (Mundelein's) way, but our kids are resilient, " McNulty said. "We had them on fourth down. The kid bobbles the ball and catches it, but our kids still come up with a stop. You have to tip your cap to our kids. They never stopped fighting."

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