A Tondini to Morris' rescue
ROMEOVILLE -- A healthy Adam Tondini was the difference as Morris defeated Romeoville 24-6 in a Southwest Prairie Conference game Friday.
Tondini, a 6-foot, 208-pound senior running back, rushed for 96 yards on 28 carries to improve the Redskins to 2-3 overall, 2-1 in conference. The loss dropped the Spartans to 2-3, 0-3.
"We needed this win," he said. "We had a rough start to our season, but everyone worked hard tonight, and we picked up a big win."
Injuries had limited Tondini's carries entering Friday night, but Morris coach George Dergo called his number 10 times in the Redskins' first 12 plays. He responded by scoring a touchdown from 4 yards out with 2:06 to play in the first quarter to give Morris a 7-0 lead.
The Redskins' defense held the Spartans on the next possession and took the ball at their own 24. Morris marched 76 yards in 10 plays. The drive was capped off by fullback Drew Tondini's 1-yard-run with 7:00 left in the first half. Morris added a two-point conversion to take a 15-0 lead.
Romeoville's offense mustered only 6 first downs in the game, but the Spartans did convert on fourth-and-10 from the Morris 34 for their lone score. The Spartans scored on a 34-yard scoring pass to cut the Morris lead to 15-6 with 2:53 left in the half.
Morris kicker David Balzer kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it 18-6 with 4:22 left in the third quarter. Adam Tondini finished the scoring with a 2-yard-run with 11:00 to play in the fourth quarter for the final tally.
"There's no sugarcoating it. We need to get better on offense right now," Romeoville coach Jeff Kuna said. "You can't expect the defense to play three-and-a-half quarters on the field. We're a team. We're just not good enough to play four quarters of shutout football against a physical team like Morris.
"I give Coach Dergo a lot of credit. He's got a stud running back in Adam Tondini, and this is the first time he's played lengthy periods at tailback all year. He's a great back. We hit him hard, and he had to earn his yards but when you have a good back like that he's going to get his three to five yards on every carry."
Dergo feels the win may signal a turning point in his team's season.
"The play of our lines is getting a lot better," he said. "You can see Adam Tondini's return made a huge difference in what we can actually do on the field. I thought our defense came after them and really started to pick it up.
"I really think our young guys are starting to grow up, and this is the fifth game of the year with four more to go they just have to keep progressing and progressing and they're not going to be juniors anymore. We have to fight and claw our way through this conference to get into the playoffs. Like I have told them all along, if we get into the 5A playoffs in a decent position, we can be a good team that can win some ballgames. This might be the time we turn the corner."
