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Football: Bolingbrook defense stifles Downers South
Updated: November 12, 2011 9:33PM
Antonio Morrison and his fellow Bolingbrook defenders solved a problem that’s confounded most other teams this season: how to stop Josh Williams.
The Raiders held Williams to 25 first-half rushing yards and 102 for the night as they cruised to a 47-19 win in Class 8A quarterfinal action Saturday in Bolingbrook.
Quarterback Aaron Bailey ran for five touchdowns for Bolingbrook (11-1), which threw only one pass all evening (it was incomplete). The Raiders play at Naperville Central in next weekend’s semifinals.
Williams ran for 2,238 yards and 35 touchdowns in the first 11 weeks, but had little running room until the game was out of reach.
“We knew he was going to get the ball pretty much,” said Morrison, a linebacker who has committed to Florida. “We knew if we took him away, we [were] going to win the game.”
Morrison is the leader of the Bolingbrook defense, but he’s not the only star.
“Austin Van Meter, I have to say he’s the second best linebacker in the state behind me,” Morrison said. “I don’t know why he [doesn’t] have [any] offers, but I’m pretty sure he’s going to get some. When I got hurt, he stepped up and made a lot of plays.”
So did Bailey, who led the Raiders to scores on seven straight possessions after they punted on their first drive. The junior had scoring runs of one, eight and two yards to help Bolingbrook go up 21-3 at the half.
He then broke free for touchdown runs of 44 and 40 yards to make it 35-3 with 7:22 left in the third quarter. Omar Stover (eight carries, 91 yards) added touchdown runs of 26 and 10 yards as Bolingbrook opened a 47-3 lead before finishing with 494 rushing yards.
“I’m pretty sure nobody can stop Bailey,” Morrison said. “He can beat you with his arm or his feet or whatever.”
“We didn’t play as well as we needed to tonight and you have to give them credit,” Downers South coach John Belskis said. “There have been times when we ended the season and maybe we haven’t played well. We can look in ourselves in the mirror and say we just got beat by a better team. ... Their X’s are better than our O’s.”
Williams agreed with his coach’s assessment of the Raiders.
“They’re a really good defense and a really [well] coached defense,” he said. “You can tell they work hard in their practices and they work on the little things.”
Downers South (10-2) got two late scores on A.J. Simoncell’s 40-yard pass to Kaylon Miller and Williams’ 21-yard run.
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