Stay Connected with YourSeason
Riverside-Brookfield shuts out Elmwood Park
Updated: October 8, 2011 12:20AM
Riverside-Brookfield came to Elmwood Park and made the plays when it needed them most to earn a convincing 28-0 win over the host Tigers on Friday night in a Metro Suburban Conference match-up.
Senior quarterback Dylan Beketic had a phenomenal game, throwing three touchdown passes and running for one as he accumulated 298 yards through the air. Fellow senior Alex Huffhines was his favorite target, catching eight balls for 165 yards and a score while junior Joe Odeh was on the receiving end of two Beketic touchdown passes.
The win broke R-B’s three-game losing streak.
“We went to this a couple of weeks ago,” said Riverside-Brookfield head coach Jason Rech about his big receivers.” Alex is 6-6 and Joe is 6-3, and there aren’t a lot of kids who can match up with them. Alex is the guy who got us here, so we’re going to keep going to him.”
After the Tigers forced a turnover on downs on the opening possession, the Bulldogs responded with an 80-yard scoring drive to get on the board. Beketic played pitch-and-catch with Huffhines for a pair of 17-yard gains to start the drive before he found Odeh for a 35-yard touchdown pass play with 1:29 remaining in the first quarter. Senior Nick Callahan ran in for two points to make it an 8-0 R-B lead.
The Bulldogs (2-5, 1-2) took advantage of much better field position right before halftime. Again, Beketic connected with Huffhines for a 24-yard pass to start the drive and put them at the 9-yard line with a 15-yard connection. On first-and-goal, Beketic found Huffhines in the back corner of the end zone for a 14-0 R-B lead at the half.
Elmwood Park (3-4, 0-2) looked to make a game of this with a sustained drive coming out of the locker room. Junior Michael Tinajero, who led the Tigers with 51 yards on 10 rushes, provided the spark as he rattled off runs of 9, 13, 7 and 8 yards on the drive that was helped by an R-B personal foul. The Bulldogs would step up on fourth-and-one at their own 3, stopping Tinajero cold to take over possession and leave Elmwood Park with nothing to show for that drive.
“Our second-half game plan worked to a T, but we came up with no points,” said Elmwood Park head coach Luis Arroyo. “That’s just a drive where you need points in order for the team to keep belief. Then they turn around and gain half the field back in a couple of plays and that really deflates your team.”
The first play after that Beketic gave the Bulldogs some breathing room with a 31-yard strike to Huffhines. They then connected for 22 more yards three plays later before Beketic hit Odeh to finish the 97-yard, five-play drive and make it a 20-0 game.
“We’ve been tied or in the lead in the third quarter in four of our five losses,” Rech said. “We ganged up to stop the run, and we limited their big plays. We were dying for a win. We’ve been competitive in all but one game this year, and we finally finished tonight.”
Beketic rounded out the scoring with a 7-yard run early in the fourth quarter. They started at their own 29, but a 15-yard pass to Huffhines put them in business. Beketic then scrambled away from Elmwood Park’s pressure and turned the broken play into a 17-yard gain. Senior Tyler Floros busted a 32-yard run up the middle to set up the final score of the contest. Senior Andy Suzuki converted the 2-pointer to put the cherry on top for R-B.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment