Raiders rip up Joliet in SouthwestSuburban opener

Seigler, Martin and Geever account for two TDs each

On the second play of the game, the Bolingbrook defense set the tone and greeted the area's leading quarterback, Joliet Township's Justin Stephenson, with an interception. Raiders defensive back Alex McNulty's takeaway gave the Raiders the ball at the Steelmen 29-yard line.

"Our outside linebacker did a good job of jamming his guy who tipped the ball and I happened to be there for the pick," McNulty said after Bolingbrook's 48-0 victory over Joliet on Friday night.

Five plays later, Raiders quarterback Brad Geever picked up a fumbled snap and dashed 13-yards up the middle for the Raiders' first score with 9:15 left in the first quarter.

"That was a miscue on our part and we just happened to pick it up and score," Geever said after throwing for two touchdowns without a turnover.

Geever's mistake-turned-toucdown was just the beginning of a shellacking of the Steelmen in Southwest Suburban Blue play Friday night as Raiders celebrated homecoming with their fifth consecutive victory to open the season.

Bolingbrook, ranked sixth in the Sun-Times Super 25 football rankings, will travel to Lincoln-Way Central (4-1) next week for a game that will shape race for the conference title.

In the first quarter, the Raiders didn't have far to travel for their scores as each of the drives began in Steelmen territory. Bolingbrook's first drive commenced at the 29 following McNulty's interception and the second at the Steelmen 23. That drive ended with a John Seigler 10-yard touchdown run and a quick 14-0 lead with 6:25 left in the opening quarter.

In contrast, the Steelmen didn't get into Raiders territory until the eight-minute mark of the second quarter and that drive didn't end well for Joliet.

At the Raiders 26-yard line, Joliet (1-4) faced a fourth and 4. Stephenson found Alex Kershaw, but the Raiders defense found him a yard short of the first down.

The Raiders took over at their own 23 and with the momentum in their favor. On the next play, Geever executed a perfect fake handoff to Jamel Martin and raced his way up the middle for 72 yards until hea was finally dragged down at the Joliet 5-yard line.

"I should've scored but it's OK because we still scored.  It's fine with me," Geever said.

Two plays later, Martin went off right tackle and just like that, the Raiders were in total control with a 21-0 lead with 6:43 left in the half.

The Raiders scored quickly on their next two possessions to give them a 34-0 halftime lead as Martin scored on a 44-yard run up the middle where he was untouched and Geever connected on a shovel pass to Seigler for a 31-yard score.

Joliet had four turnovers, including three fumbles, that led to two scores and ended drives.

Throughout the game Stephenson and the Steelmen offense couldn't get into rhythm. Stephenson was 8 for 18 for 114 yards and an interception. His receivers dropped some passes while others fell incomplete, not close to his targets.

Stephenson injured his knee late in the first half and didn't play in the second half.

The Steelmen ended a 17-game losing streak last week with a 28-24 victory over St. Ignatius, but they weren't able to do anything against Bolingbrook (5-0), mainly because of field position.

"When you come out and have the interception and the short field it hurts and to continually have to play on your side of the field the whole game, we couldn't get anything going then we eventually did but it was to late," Steelmen head coach Jason Aubry said.

The Raider defense, which has allowed the most passing yards in the area with an average of 155 per game, did a much better job against the Steelmen, allowing 114 yards.

"The defense is doing a nice job of forcing the turnovers and it's easy to put up points when you get the ball in their territory from the takeaways," Raiders head coach John Ivlow said. "It's a win, the fifth one that we wanted and we took our second step toward our first goal which is to win the conference championship and hopefully take a lot more of those over the next few weeks."

Bolingbrook finished the scoring in the third quarter with Geever's 22-yard touchdown pass to Orlando Thomas and backup quarterback Barry Wolff's 16-yard run on a fourth-down play.