Sandburg overpowers rival Andrew

Andrew came into Friday night's SouthWest Suburban crossover matchup against rival Sandburg wanting nothing more than to honor senior wide receiver Jonathan Branham, who passed away August 15 following an auto accident, with a win.

And while Branham no doubt would have been proud of his teammates' effort, their desired result was not accomplished.

"It was a strange night of emotions for us tonight, dealing with the death of one of our players and of course playing one of our biggest rivals," Andrew coach Jim Zimmer said. "But, I'm proud of our guys and the way they competed tonight."

The Eagles (1-0) spoiled the Thunderbolts' plans following a 23-16 win in Tinley Park.

The Thunderbolts opened the scoring with 2:26 left in the first quarter when running back Nick DeBenedetti found wide receiver Kyle Duckworth wide open in the end zone, courtesy of a 17-yard scoring strike.

The big play came on the heels of an Andrew holding penalty.

Kevin Hennington's PAT was good and the Thunderbolts led 7-0.

The Eagles got on the board with 7:45 remaining in the second courtesy of a hard-fought, three-yard touchdown by quarterback Cody Miller. Sandburg was unable to knot the tilt however as place kicker Taylor Zalewski's PAT attempt was blocked by Thunderbolt sophomore Fred Kassal.

Zalewski redeemed himself with 2:06 left in the opening half when he split the uprights from 31-yards out, giving Sandburg a short-lived 9-7 advantage.

Hennington drilled a 21-yard attempt with 14.3 left in the half, giving Andrew a 10-9 edge.

The Eagles came out in the second half feeding the Thunderbolts a steady diet of senior running back Jermell Harris (13 carries, 114 yards).

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Harris carried seven times on Sandburg's first possession of the half with the crown jewel of his work coming via a 53-yard scamper from scrimmage.

Harris' ground work helped set up a 15-yard run to pay dirt by Tres Oliver with 2:31 left in the period.

Sandburg's two-point attempt was unsuccessful and the Eagles led 15-10.

Andrew came out firing in the fourth as quarterback Kevin O'Neill fired a short swing pass to DeBenedetti, who turned it into a 14-yard gain, helping to set a one-yard dive into the end zone by O'Neill with 11:15 left.

The Thunderbolts' two-point attempt was unsuccessful and Andrew led 16-15.

Miller recorded his second touchdown run of the night on a one-yard jaunt with 3:12 to go as

Harris galloped his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion as the Eagles grabbed a 23-16 lead.

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