By Scott Taylor | @Taylor_Sports
The Plainfield South defense is regaining its force from last year.
For the second straight week it held its opponent out of the end zone in a 17-3 win over Plainfield East Friday at East.
After a 3-3 tie at the half, the Cougars (4-2) came out fired up in the second half and drove the ball right down the field, scoring less than two minutes into the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run from Sayvaun Roberts.
“They were kind of giving us the outside, so we decided to go with some screens,” South quarterback Nick Deppe said. “We thought we could exploit that. Sayvaun is a great part of the offense. They were loading the box so we were spreading it out.”
“We didn’t come ready to play football tonight,” South coach Bill Bicker said. “We survived in the first half and credit the East defense. They had a great gameplan. We had a talk at halftime and came out and the offensive coaches did a great job of making adjustments and the defense played well. We’re happy to come away with the win but we have a lot of work to do.”
That lead was extended to 17-3 late in the quarter on a 3-yard plunge from Nick Portz.
“That is Cougar football,” Portz said of his hard-nosed running. “We put our hearts out on the field and go for it. We have to do that the rest of the season.”
“They made good adjustments and we couldn’t adjust,” East coach Mike Romeli said. “We knew coming in if our defense could stop them, it could be a close game. We know we are struggling on offense. We started a sophomore at quarterback and tackle starting for the first time tonight. Defensively, we played a good game besides those two drives.”
It is Nick and Jake Portz who show the toughness and leadership on both sides of the ball, whether it is breaking tackles and fighting for every yard or making stops from their linebacker position.
“We lean on Nick and Jake Portz,” Bicker said. “They are incredible kids. I think our conference knows about them, but people outside of our conference need to know about them. They are special football players and it is a privilege to coach them. Colleges are going to get steals with those kids.”
Plainfield East was never able to mount a serious threat, missing some big plays and coming up empty on fourth down in the fourth quarter in South territory.
“I thought we played good Cougar defense, the way we practice,” Nick Portz said. “We worked hard all week and it paid off. We just want to win out and go to the playoffs. Our defensive linemen let our linebackers make plays and it worked out.”
“We have had one explosive play through six games,” Romeli said. “That is who we are right now. Our quarterback
(Ben Mazurkiewicz) did a nice job for his first start. He was poised and made a couple good throws. We just didn’t make any plays. We had some drops and didn’t help him out.”
Up next for the Cougars is their final Plainfield game of the year at Plainfield North (4-2) in a game where the winner will clinch a playoff berth.
“We have to work hard and utilize every single second of practice,” Deppe said. “We have to watch a lot of film and hit the weights. It is a big game every year and everyone is going to be there.”
“It is going to be a big challenge,” Bicker said. “Plainfield North is an excellent football team. They are big and physical and have guys who can make plays all over the field. It is going to be a challenge, but I think we are up for the challenge.”
East (2-4) will try to stay playoff eligible and look to get its first touchdown on offense since week two when it travels to Romeoville (1-5), fresh off its upset win over Minooka.
“We have to regroup,” Romeli said. “Romeoville has a stud tailback. They are scary on film. They have good athletes. It is going to be a challenge for sure.”