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Zion-Benton tags Warren with a loss

For all intents and purposes, Warren has already stamped its ticket for the football playoffs.

It never hurts, though, to get a little wake-up call, especially with the regular-season finale at home against Stevenson in Week 9.

On Friday night, there was no overlooking a talented Zion-Benton team. The Devils showed flashes of taking over the game at various points, but the host Zee-Bees always had an answer in pulling out a 21-14 North Suburban Conference victory. The win kept Zion's slim playoff hopes alive as it improved to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the league.

"No way we looked past them (Zion). That's a good football team over there and they simply outplayed us tonight," said Warren coach Brian McNulty, whose troops fell to 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the NSC. "It's not good when you give up a defensive touchdown and lose by a touchdown."

The coach was referring to the third quarter, with 5:08 left.

With the game knotted at 14-14, Tyler Geiman stepped in front of an Ian Schilling pass for a 22-yard interception return for a score that put Zion-Benton ahead 21-14.

That score held up the rest of the way as the offenses went somewhat stagnant in the fourth.

"We just made too many mental mistakes tonight. We need to work on our mental preparation and be more ready to play," added McNulty.

Senior linebacker Jared Keeter pounced on a fumble midway through the first quarter and the Devils were in business. After a beautiful fake to junior tailback Martin Walker Jr., Schilling bolted in from 11 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 2:10 left in the opening act.

Fittingly for a Friday the 13th, strange things started happening, like Tyrese Crump taking the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to knot it at 7-7 at the end of the first.

Zion-Benton grabbed the lead early in the second when Crump caught a screen pass from quarterback Romey Crawford, taking it 93 yards to the house and quickly making it 14-7.

Warren responded as Walker Jr. dashed in from 4 yards out and it was tied at 14-14 heading to the locker room.

Defense was on display in the fourth, and Warren got the ball back with under a minute left. But a final long pass was picked off by Geiman to preserve the Zion victory as time expired.

The high-powered Warren offense only managed 201 total yards of offense, while Zion amassed 261.

Notre Dame commit Micah Jones was targeted several times and finished with 2 catches for 3 yards.

"Zion did an excellent job overall, and especially against Micah," noted McNulty.

Walker Jr. was the workhorse on the ground with 88 tough yards on 19 carries and the touchdown. Schilling finished 11-for-26 for 104 yards and 4 picks.

In addition to Keeter's fumble recovery, senior defensive lineman Collin Patrick picked off a second-quarter pass from Crawford.

Jordan Chisum racked up 128 yards on 29 carries to lead the Zion rushing attack.

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