River Forest rolls past Calumet

Updated: September 12, 2011 7:12PM

LAKE STATION — River Forest scored 34 unanswered points Friday night and rolled over Calumet 34-7 in a Greater South Shore Conference game.

The Ingots (3-1, 2-0) racked up 418 total yards and scored all 34 points in the final three quarters after a sluggish first quarter.

“It seemed to take our players a quarter to get the feel of the game,” said River Forest coach Jeff Bean. “The last two weeks it has been our defense that has been clicking on all cylinders but this week I had a feeling it was going to be our offense clicking.”

Calumet (0-4, 0-2) capped off a 58-yard, 11-play drive with a 5-yard run by Noah Fowler for the first score of the game. A Gabriel Carmona kick made it 7-0 with 6:29 left in the first quarter. The drive featured two fourth-down conversions, including a Dante Collins to Marquis Carlton 25-yard pass play to set up a first-and-goal at the 5. The first quarter ended with the Warriors leading 7-0.

The Ingots got on the board with 4:07 left before halftime. J.J. Pennington hooked up with Jaime Cervantes from 36 yards out for the score. The Alex Ballestas two-point conversion gave River Forest the 8-7 lead. The Ingots came right back two minutes later and took a 16-7 lead with 2:07 left in the half. Brandon Armour found a hole off left tackle from 18 yards out. Pennington ran in the two-point conversion. Pennington nearly gave the crowd a thrill with no time left on the clock at halftime, but his 47-yard toss to Brandon Laas was dropped at the goal line.

River Forest added to its lead with 8:50 left in the third. Ballestas had a 19-yard run and the Pennington to Ramon Diaz pass for the two- point conversion gave the Ingots a 24-7 lead, which is where the third quarter ended. Carmona, the Calumet punter, took a safety as he stepped out of the end zone with 9:28 left in the fourth rather than risking a blocked punt and Austyn Ayres finished off the scoring for the Ingots with a nifty 31-yard run on a sweep to the left side with 8:45 left in the game. Pennington hooked up with Cervantes for the conversion.

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