Curry makes Lockport victory a shoe-in

LOCKPORT -- It's got to be the shoes.

Brandon Curry got some new shoes and put them to good use. The senior cornerback had three interceptions as Lockport clamped down on defense and went on to a 27-6 high school football victory over Homewood-Flossmoor in a Southwest Suburban Blue matchup on Friday night.

"My (defensive backs) coach Rich Fullriede was on me to get new shoes," Curry said. "My other ones had felt too loose. I guess it worked since I had the three picks."

"Brandon deserves it, he's been playing well for us," Lockport coach Brett Kooi said. "He listened as a junior. He's worked hard, paid his dues and is having success."

Lockport (5-2, 3-2) forced four second-half turnovers -- all interceptions. In addition to Curry's trio, junior linebacker Cole Starkey added one as the Porters limited H-F (0-7, 0-5) to 61 yards in the second half.

"Defensively, we played better and made adjustments up front and with the linebackers," said Curry, who now has five picks on the season. "After (H-F's) first drive, the coaches pulled us together and we had to eliminate mistakes."

The Vikings scored on the opening drive of the game as Lantz Sims bolted in from 20 yards out. But they missed the two-point conversion.

Lockport answered right back. After being bottled up and not making a run over 12 yards in a 21-13 loss to Lincoln-Way Central the previous week, junior running back Dan "The Tank" Holman raced 60 yards on his first carry and tied the game at 6 with 6:45 left in the first quarter.

Holman scored again on his second carry, bolting in from 18 yards out to put the Porters ahead for good at 13-6 with 3:42 left in the opening quarter. Holman finished with 16 carries for 153 yards.

The Porters extended the lead to 20-6 by driving 75 yards in 11 plays and taking nearly 7 minutes off the clock. Senior quarterback Kyle Billig found senior tight end Anthony Liutkus with a 4-yard pass to cap the drive with 5:37 to play in the first half.

H-F had 148 yards at halftime, but only 68 of it after the first possession. Junior running back Malik Norman led the Vikings with 20 carries for 154 yards.

Billig capped the scoring when he bolted through the middle of the line for a 37-yard TD run with 8:24 to play in the third quarter. That came on a second-and-34 play and Billig finished with 11 carries for 52 yards.

"The offensive just opened the hole for me," Billig said. "(Junior lineman) Matt Sawickis had a block on their defensive end that just sprung it for me."

With the victory the Porters are all but assured their first playoff appearance since 2006, and their second in the past five seasons.

At Lemont, Kyle Cyr scored on touchdown runs of 11 and 17 yards for the Indians (6-1, 4-1) in the South Suburban Blue win, while Clayton Fejdelem had a 39-yard TD burst. Danny Hayes ran for 177 yards on 26 carries.

The Herald-News