South works out kinks, trips Minooka
JOLIET -- Plainfield South is trying like crazy to break its bad habit.
All the while, the Cougars keep rolling.
PHOTO GALLERY
• Minooka vs. Plainfield South
South shook off another sluggish start Friday night and controlled the second half to score a 19-7 Southwest Prairie Conference victory over Minooka.
How big was this one? Well, Plainfield Central celebrates homecoming next Saturday afternoon -- you guessed it, against Plainfield South (4-0, 2-0). Central also is 2-0 in the conference after whipping Oswego East 29-3 Friday night.
Game on.
"I told the kids afterward that it's like a college game next week -- on Saturday afternoon," South coach Mike Briscoe said. "A lot of these guys want to go on and play in college. This will be a chance for them to test themselves."
Last week, the Cougars dominated the second half against Romeoville after settling for a 6-6 halftime tie. This time around, Minooka (1-3, 0-2) picked up three first downs and mounted a 4-minute, 51-second drive on its first possession, then took a 7-0 lead when junior safety Cory Krakowski jumped a pass to the left flat and returned the interception 33 yards for a touchdown. A.J. Zalewski kicked the extra point, and the Indians were on top 7-0.
But South's defense would have none of it. Minooka did not get another first down until the fourth quarter and finished with four. The Indians had 17 total yards of offense in the second and third quarters combined, 128 for the game.
"(Minooka's Elliot) Allen (9 carries, 25 yards) is a great back. We had to shut him down," said South junior defensive tackle Kyle Voda, who also is a terror at offensive guard and special teams. "We knew our defense had to have a big game tonight.
"We started slow again, but then in the second half we seem to get a line on people. We come out and punish people in the second half."
That's a thought that was not lost on Minooka coach Bert Kooi.
"We let their big bodies beat on us and beat on us," Kooi said. "They absolutely played strong defense, but we can't be beating ourselves on offense, either."
Minooka sophomore quarterback Mitchell Brozovich was intercepted three times in the second half -- by Matt Huyser, Mitchell Varga and Chris Calderone -- as the Cougars' secondary grabbed a little time in the spotlight. Varga also recovered a second-half fumble.
"We just have to start doing it earlier in these games," Varga said. "But in the second half, we were getting turnovers all over the place."
And, of course, moving the ball offensively with that persistent running attack.
Paging Chris Brown.
The No. 1 workhorse in the Joliet area rushed 20 times for 157 yards in the second half alone to finish with 34 carries for 211 yards. "Chris has a way of coming along as the game goes on," Voda said.
And when Brown wasn't punishing the Minooka defense -- which played well for the most part before wearing down -- junior quarterback Jeff Kohl inflicted more damage. He completed 9-of-16 passes for 99 yards, with senior wide receiver Austin Turk grabbing 7 for 80 yards.
After Minooka took its 7-0 lead, South was frustrated for a while. Midway through the second quarter, the Cougars were all set to try for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Minooka 42. But lo and behold, a South player was whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty -- he was wearing a chain, and that's a no-no.
Then it appeared a muffed punt snap would set the Cougars up at the Minooka 10-yard line. Guess again. A face mask penalty was called, and the Indians received a mulligan.
But after the punt, South marched to the tying score as Kohl sneaked in from the 1 with 0:44 left in the half.
Brown scored both touchdowns in the second half, from 5 yards out to cap a 44-yard drive midway through the third quarter and from 21 yards out with 9:18 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars defense -- ends Ben Simmering and Jack McGrail, tackles Voda and Ray Croom, linebackers Luke Gunderson, Brad Kaput and Nick Arndt and that secondary of Andrew Haney, Huyser, Varga and Calderone -- did the rest.
"We just can't put our sophomore quarterback (Brozovich) in positions that he shouldn't be in," Kooi said. "We can't be asking him to go out there and win the game for us. We couldn't get anything going offensively. We have to be able to run the ball better."
