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Cruz control: Round Lake picks up win No. 2

Standing with his feet planted in Amundsen's end zone, a big man looked skyward and sniffed a large moment. He saw a football floating in the air.

"It looked puny," Round Lake junior defensive tackle Kelvin Cruz said.

When you stand 6 feet 4 and weigh 305 pounds, a football probably looks like the size of a biscuit. Cruz snatched the ball out of the air as if it were a 20-pound cooked turkey and cradled it. The Panthers feasted all day, winning their home opener 42-14 on a sunny Saturday.

"I've played football for a long time," Cruz said. "That (interception) was easy. That's backyard football. Catch it and tuck it in.

"I've never been on a winning team (record-wise)," Cruz added. "To play with my brothers and win is a great feeling."

In addition to Cruz's interception for touchdown, the Panthers got a 137 rushing yards and 2 scores from Anthony Tellez and a TD pass and run from quarterback Alex Larson, as they improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2006.

"It's a breath of fresh air to finally see more than 40 points up on the board," Round Lake senior defensive tackle Ethan Gomez said. "It feels good."

Round Lake was up 14-6 on the strength of Tellez's touchdown runs from 8 and 1 yards out, and the Panthers were threatening again, before a fumble inside the Amundsen 10 thwarted them. It didn't take long for the momentum to swing back in favor of the home team.

After Brett Kneeland's sack pushed Amundsen back to its own 1, the Panthers brought pressure on third-and-20. Gomez deflected quarterback Devin Willis' pass in the end zone, and Cruz grabbed it with two hands for the Panthers' third straight score with 3:26 left in the first half.

Round Lake's fans erupted and so did its players.

"It might be the first time he's touched a ball in four weeks," Panthers coach Cristo Garza joked of his jumbo lineman.

"I had faith that he would catch it," Gomez said of Cruz. "I knew that something like that was going to happen. It was bound to happen."

So excited was Cruz that he ran to the Round Lake sideline. It was only after his teammates on the field started yelling at him that he realized he was on the PAT team, necessitating that he hurry back onto the field.

"I was out of breath," said Cruz, who admittedly got caught up in the moment.

The game marked a homecoming for Amundsen head coach Nick Olson, whose Vikings fell to 1-1. Olson, 26, played three seasons of varsity football as a linebacker/running back for Round Lake from 2007-09. He had several friends and cousins at the game supporting him and his team.

"It was great," Olson said. "I just wish we knew our assignments a little bit better. We had a great week of practice, and we had a good game plan. We just didn't execute."

Amundsen took a 6-0 lead on its second series of the game as, following an Olson timeout, Willis threw a screen pass to Jonathan Sanders, who took it 54 yards to the end zone. But Round Lake responded on its ensuing series, as Tellez's 49-yard burst set up his own touchdown.

The Panthers then started rolling, scoring 42 unanswered points to take a 42-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Larson, who rushed for 99 yards and threw for 88, hit Chandler Nixon for a 34-yard TD catch that had the Panthers up 28-6 at halftime.

Lucas Hollingsworth (sack) and Julio Pacheco (interception) also made big plays for Round Lake.

The Panthers haven't been to the state playoffs since 2001, when they put together a 6-3 regular season. That team, like the '06 squad under current assistant coach Doug Moss, lost in Week 3 after winning its first two games. Garza's Panthers visit North Chicago next Friday night in a Northern Lake County Conference opener.

"We're in a position where we've never been before," Garza said. "I think this week it hit our kids a little bit, like, 'Wow, we have an opportunity to do something special.' We just said, 'Let's go out and get it. Let's not talk about it. Let's go get it.' "

Even Amundsen's coach had to smile about the Panthers' turnaround.

"I'm happy for my old alma mater," Olson said. "Garza's doing a great job with them."

Images: Round Lake vs. Amundsen football

  Round Lake's Anthony Tellez scores a first-quarter touchdown during Saturday's game against Amundsen. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake's Anthony Tellez carries the ball to the 4-yard line during the first quarter of Saturday's game against Amundsen. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake quarterback Alex Larson rushes as Amundsen's Cameron Meredith, left, and Kennith Frimpong close in during Saturday's game. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake's Brett Kneeland catches a pass during the second quarter of Saturday's game against Amundsen. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Amundsen football coach Nick Olson, a 2010 Round Lake graduate, leads his team during Saturday's game at Round Lake. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake's Julio Pacheco carries the ball during the second quarter of Saturday's game against Amundsen. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
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