Manteno holds on to beat Lisle
MANTENO, Ill. - Manteno could not celebrate until the final victory formation kneel down, not after watching what Lisle quarterback Aidan Lombardo and his talented receivers did on the football field Friday night.
So even after taking a 6-point lead on the visiting Lions with just 1:49 left to play, the Panthers were not comfortable after the final horn. Manteno won 36-30.
Lombardo, who had 3 touchdown passes in the first half and a TD run in the fourth quarter that put Lisle on top 30-28, did connect with Demetrius King for a 14-yard pass into Manteno territory on the final drive. But following that play, the home team's defense finally secured the win with a pair of sacks and an intentional grounding call on the Lions quarterback who was under heavy pressure in the final minute.
"We executed more than we had the last two weeks, but we just came up short," said Lombardo, who passed for more than 200 yards, including a pair of scoring passes to Connor Nigro. "We made the big plays when we had to."
The Panthers (1-2) struck first when Davey Wurster broke off a 53-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the night. The senior running back finished the night with 129 yards on 17 carries, including a pair of touchdowns, but it looked for a while like it wouldn't be enough against a Lions squad clicking on offense.
On the final play of the first quarter, Lombardo rifled a 35-yard strike to a racing Nigro who caught it in stride and closed the gap to 7-6. Nigro added a 33-yard touchdown grab in the final seconds of the half as the Lions answered a late Panthers score with one of their own to take a 22-21 lead at the half.
Nigro had a big night with 3 catches for 80 yards, but it was offset by Manteno's late charge led by the hosts' quarterback Caleb Borkenhagen, who completed 5 of 5 passes on the winning drive.
"That was a tough ending, but we kept coming back," Nigro said. "They were stopping the running game so we just wanted to air it out. Our quarterback's got a great arm and we've got a lot of good receivers."
One of those receivers, King, came up big in the first half. His interception in Lions territory stopped a Manteno drive and eventually led to his 14-yard touchdown catch and a 2-point conversion grab that gave the Lions a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. Later King hauled in a 47-yarder on a tipped ball to set up another score.
Lombardo hopes the tough setback helps the team focus more after enjoying so much success last year and then opening 2-0 this season.
"This is an eye-opener for us," he said. "I think because we won so many games last year, we maybe needed this to help us get back on track."