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Shepard snags a Week 1 win at Leyden

Making a schedule change can bring big challenges.

Such was the case for Leyden, which swapped its longtime Week 1 rival Fenton for South Suburban Conference member Shepard of Palos Heights this season.

On their initial research, the Eagles knew they were facing a tough program ...

• That averaged 6 wins a year during the last 9 seasons.

• Which had qualified for state playoffs three years running and 7 times in the past 9 years.

• And a team led by a new coach, John Rone, who'd served as an assistant at fellow SSC schools Eisenhower (7 years) & Thornton Fractional North (2 years) during that time span.

While the host Eagles were able to rise up to several challenges during Friday Night's contest, Leyden dropped an 18-14 contest to the visiting Astros in Northlake, the decisive score coming on a 21-yard pass from Rishad Blake to Chris Harrison with 45 seconds remaining.

"It was a combination of mistakes, penalties, breakdowns that did us in," Leyden coach Tom Cerasani said.

The Eagles produced a 15-play, 93-yard drive on their second possession that finished when senior RB Gabe Guarderas dove in from the 1 on a fourth-and-goal at the 9:38 mark of the second quarter. A pair of completions totaling 49 of those yards from fellow seniors Kyler Britten to Daquan Harris laid the foundation for Guarderas' successful vault.

The Astros got on the board thanks to a shanked punt that left them in position at their own 34, where three plays later senior TB Korey Burrell hauled in a 48-yard pass from Blake (12-for-19, 176 yards) that got them on the scoreboard. Shepard missed its opportunity to tie the contest up when the subsequent PAT snap was fumbled, leaving Leyden up 7-6 with 3:56 until the break.

The Eagles responded with another long successful drive prior to halftime this time going 11 plays, 80 yards. Guarderas gained 51 of his game-high 173 yards (33 carries) and set up Britten's scoring toss to Nick Motyka (7 yards) just 27 seconds until halftime.

The home team's opening possession of half number two served as the game's turning point when a Leyden drive stalled at the Astro 31.

The Astros (1-0) closed the gap thanks to an interception by Harrison on an attempted screen pass with 2:11 remaining in the third as the 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior leaped up in the air and snared the ball at the Leyden 23 and proceeded to score.

Harrison paid homage to fellow Astro defender Elijah Vinson for getting key disruptive penetration that set up the pick six.

"Eli came in and was able to get to their quarterback," Harrison said. "He made it possible for me to get the ball."

Harrison (7 receptions, 127 yards) also played a crucial role in the Astros' game-winning drive as he made a 22-yard catch on a fourth-and-21 from the Shepard 41 to keep their hopes alive. Three plays later, he made a leaping grab of a Blake pass in the end zone that saw the Shepard QB narrowly avoid a Leyden rush in getting the pass off.

"It was a matter of keeping my concentration on making sure as I caught the ball to keep at least one foot inbounds," Harrison said.

The Eagles (0-1) got no further than their own 27 on their final drive as Britten's last pass to Andrew Parisi on a fourth-and-11 netted only 8 yards.

Guarderas' performance drew praise from his coach.

"It was the best that I've seen him play since he's been on varsity, our offensive line (seniors Gerardo Castillo, Shane Allen, Ryan Jaffrey, and Omar Dorado plus junior Jimmy O'Donnell) did a good job opening up holes for him as well," Cerasani said.

For the 12th-year Eagles head coach, whose squad will play host to Downers Grove North in a WSC crossover next Friday, the key will be learning from Friday's defeat.

"We have to go back and look at the film and take from it what we need to do in order to make those plays that we didn't make tonight."

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