Maine West gets closer to win No. 6
The future looks bright for Maine West after sophomore quarterback Danny Kentgen's performance as a super sub Thursday night.
The present looks pretty good, too.
With a 51-0 rout of visiting Maine East, the Warriors clinched their first winning season since 2005 and became playoff eligible.
Maine West (5-1, 2-0 Central Suburban North) came up short in its final three tries at a fifth win in 2016, coach Jason Kradman's third season, and extended a playoff drought that dates back to 2002 by finishing 4-5.
The Warriors' 2005 team that was 5-4 missed the postseason by 5 playoff points, now known simply as opponents' wins. This year's squad came up with an acronym in its quest to end the program's schneid, G.U.T.S. - or Get Us to Six
"We want to get to six wins to guarantee us a playoff spot," Kradman said. "Now that we're sitting at 5-1, we're hungry. We're going to take it one game at a time, but we want to get to six."
Maine West's next two opportunities for a sixth win will come on the road, against Vernon Hills and Highland Park, respectively.
Kentgen was expected to relieve George Markakis in the second half Thursday. That plan, however, was altered when Markakis got banged up late in the first quarter and was pulled out for precautionary reasons, Kradman said.
"I just came in confident. I knew my teammates had me. I believe in my coach. That's really it," Kentgen said.
Kentgen was a perfect 7-for-7 for 98 yards and one "special" touchdown - a 9-yarder to his brother, senior tight end Matt Kentgen.
"It was an awesome moment. It was a lot of fun," the elder Kentgen said. "A lot of people were hoping that it would come true. We got the opportunity, and it was a great time."
Maine West endured some ragged play in the early going. Markakis was sacked then had a deflected pass intercepted by Maine East's Michael Bobowik on the game's opening possession.
The Warriors had a fumbled handoff that Markakis recovered on the first play of their next drive then got going after Krystian Garbicz's fumble return deep in Blue Demons territory with 6:46 to go in the first quarter.
Jake Bellizzi cashed in that turnover with a 2-yard touchdown run on the next play and ran for a 39-yard score on his next touch with 3:29 left in the first quarter. He finished with 53 yards on only 3 carries.
Not long after Bellizzi's second touchdown, the Warriors started a stretch in which they scored on four straight possessions, two of their own and two of Maine East's.
After the Kentgens teamed up for their touchdown early in the second quarter, Ely Grimmer returned an interception 50 yards then Maine East (1-5, 0-2) snapped the ball over punter Edwin Roman's head for a safety. Walter Hutt followed with a 12-yard scoring run with 2:39 to go before halftime.
Another snap over Roman's head early in the second half led to Matt Litas' 1-yard dive into the end zone and running clock. Sam Corey finished the scoring with a 6-yard run with 6:20 remaining.