Football: Crete-Monee off, running

Updated: May 9, 2012 9:58AM

Crete-Monee coach Jerry Verde said even he was surprised at the relative ease in which his team disposed of Class 6A first-round opponent Bloomington on Saturday.

The Warriors wrapped up a 63-14 Class 6A win.

“I thought it was going to be a much more difficult game,” said Verde, whose Warriors are 10-0. “But we played well on Saturday.”

The Warriors ended the regular season with a 20-13 victory over Rich East. While victorious, the competitiveness of the game caused some to think the Warriors possibly had peaked.

While acknowledging Rich East’s talent, Verde said his team may have felt the pressure of wrapping up the program’s first 9-0 regular season since 1952 against the Rockets.

“The whole 9-0 thing, when we got past Week 4 people started talking about going undefeated,” Verde said. “We were a little tight going into Rich East and we knew they were going to play us tough. I know the kids felt a sense of relief when that game was over and the undefeated things was put behind us.”

Crete-Monee travels to Peoria Richwoods (7-3) on Saturday. Verde is expecting a far more competitive game than in Round 1.

“They’re a very good team,” Verde said. “They have a lot of talent.”

Reversal
of fortune

Oak Forest coach Brian McDonough acknowledges the difficulty in defeating a team twice in one season.

However, he’s had pretty good success turning the tables on opponents when given a second chance.

He’s done it twice to Richards during his 15-year career. Richards claimed regular-season wins over the Bengals, only to lose in the postseason. He’s also done it to T.F. South.

Can McDonough produce more of the same magic Friday night when the Bengals host Lemont, which drubbed Oak Forest 41-13 in Week 9.

“We plan on doing some different things Friday,” McDonough said.

In one of those playoff wins vs. Richards, a run-heavy Bengals squad surprised the Bulldogs with a five-wide spread attack.

McDonough wouldn’t admit to such drastic measures Friday night, but did promise wingback Tevin Coleman will get the ball more often.

“We have to get the ball more to Tevin,” McDonough said. “

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