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Elgin tops Dundee-Crown behind Moore’s offense
ELGIN 34, DUNDEE-CROWN 19
D . 07 . 0 . 6 . 6 -- 19
E . 14 . 7 . 7 . 6 -- 34
E – DeVante King 18 run (Dennis Moore kick), 1st, 8:11.
D – Ardian Asani 12 run (T.J. Moss kick), 1st, :43.
E – Moore 80 run (Moore kick), 1st, :26.
E – King 9 run (Moore kick), 2nd, 3:56.
D – Asani 7 run (run failed), 3rd, 5:00.
E – Moore 99 kick return (Moore kick), 3rd, 4:47.
D – Asani 3 run (run failed), 4th, 7:54.
E – Moore 50 run (kick failed), :38.
Team Stats-------------DC--------Elgin
First downs------------10---------12
Comp.-att.-int.-------3-9-1------3-4-1
Passing yards----------29---------36
Rushing att.-yards---32-82------37-255
Total yards-----------111---------291
Fumbles-lost----------0-0---------1-1
Penalties-------------6-35--------9-95
Individual Statistics:
Rushing:
Dundee-Crown – Asani 16-69, Cody Lane 2-20, Kabrian Johnson 4-12, T.J. Moss 3-3, Garrett Ryan 7-(minus)22.
Elgin – Moore 18-181, Jake Bartelt 8-47, Elrich Keophilalay 2-2, DeVante King 4-26, Devin Simoni 3-(minus)1.
Passing:
Dundee-Crown – Ryan 3-9-1-29.
Elgin – Simon 3-4-1-36.
Receiving:
Dundee-Crown – Johnson 1-9, Asani 1-11, Nick Lodi 1-9.
Elgin – Gage Teschner 2-29, Elrich Keophilalay 1-7.
When Elgin High School running back Dennis Moore made a mistake Friday night against Dundee-Crown, he wasted little time atoning.
Moore shook off a critical lost fumble to come right back with an 80-yard touchdown run, picked up a kickoff he had muffed and raced 99 yards for a TD, and rushed for 181 yards on 18 carries in a season-opening, 34-19 Maroons victory at Elgin’s Memorial Field.
The 80-yard TD run came right after Moore lost a fumble at his own 13-yard line to set up Dundee-Crown’s game-tying, 12-yard first-quarter TD run by Ardian Asani.
“My teammates have a lot of trust in me,” Moore said. “I just told them, ‘I’ll make it up to you, I’ll make it up to you.’ I have a lot of confidence in myself. I never really dwell on the past and keep working toward the future.”
On the first play from scrimmage after Asani had tied it, Moore broke off right tackle, ran through three would-be Charger tacklers and scooted 80 yards down the right sideline. Then he kicked the conversion for Elgin’s 14-7 lead.
“I focused a lot more on football this summer, had a trainer, and I’ve been working all summer lifting three days a week; it’s definitely paid off,” Moore said. “I feel like I can break more tackles this year. I just feel like a lot stronger person.”
Elgin led only 21-13 after a 7-yard third-quarter Asani TD run, and Moore let the ensuring kickoff get right though his hands.
“I whiffed it,” he said. “I had to make what I could, do what I could to get out of the situation.”
He made one cut, stepped back, then bolted to daylight 99 yards for the TD that put Elgin comfortably ahead 28-13 with 4:47 left in the third quarter. Moore added a 50-yard TD run around the right side with 38 seconds remaining in the game, after a clinching interception by the Maroons’ Devin Gilliam.
“It was a bad week of practice, so maybe we’ll learn,” new Dundee-Crown coach Vito Andriola said after the Chargers’ 18th straight loss. “He’s a great runner and we had trouble tackling him.”
The Chargers hung tough in the second half, in part, because of three Elgin unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and 95 total yards in Elgin penalties. Asani had 69 yards rushing and Dundee-Crown might have been closer if not for a TD return by Kabrian Johnson getting called back due to penalty, and a couple of missed two-point conversion tries.
“We’re all freshmen here,” Andriola said after his first Dundee-Crown game. “It was a learning experience. We’ve all got to get better.”
Elgin’s defense held the Chargers to one first-half first down while the offense also had TD runs of 18 and 9 yards by DeVante King. King’s 18-yarder closed the game-opening drive for a 7-0 lead. His 9-yarder came 3:56 before halftime and made it 21-7.
Asani added a 3-yard TD run with 7:54 left in the game to get the Chargers within 28-19. Other than Asani’s 69 yards rushing, the Chargers managed just 42 yards of offense. Elgin linebacker Derek Moorman came up with a pair of sacks in the game.
“Coming into first games you have to be prepared for a lot of things ... because you’re not sure what you’re going to see,” Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. “That (D-C) winged-T with motion and misdirection, that’s not the easiest offense to defend. I’m just so proud of the kids.”
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