Eagles complete big turnaround

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:18PM

Leading 14-13 in the waning moments of the game, TEAM Englewood needed one more stop on the game's final play to secure a win over North Lawndale and the Inter-City 2 conference championship. The Phoenix had the ball on the Eagles' 25-yard line with five seconds remaining, but TEAM Englewood's Anthony Harris sealed the deal by intercepting the pass and taking it 93 yards on the game's final play for the touchdown.

A euphoric Eagle sideline erupted during the return, signifying what the moment and the win meant to the TEAM Englewood program as it escaped with a 20-13 win on Wednesday over North Lawndale at Lane.

Only in its second season as a varsity program, TEAM Englewood went from 1-8 last season to 8-1 and an Inter-City 2 conference championship this season.

"It felt great to win this game and to go from 1-8 to 8-1," said Harris, who also carried the ball 14 times for 68 yards. "This means that we worked hard to get where we're at and we're trying to be good every year."

TEAM Englewood (8-1, 7-0) held a 14-7 halftime lead and played defense the majority of the second half to hold off North Lawndale. The Phoenix (6-3, 6-1) ran 25 plays from scrimmage in the second half compared to the Eagles' nine, but TEAM Englewood's defense came up big in crucial spots.

After a 14-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes, North Lawndale turned the ball over on downs at the TEAM Englewood 14-yard on a botched snap. After a three-and-out for the Eagles, North Lawndale again drove the ball into the red zone to the 6-yard line, only to throw an interception in the end zone on fourth down when TEAM Englewood's James Williams made a play on the ball.

North Lawndale finally answered when quarterback Williams Gibbs III (8-for-20, 150 yards, touchdown, two interceptions) hit Demarko Molette-Johnson for a 17-yard touchdown strike to cut the lead to 14-13 with 2:29 remaining. Going for two on the point after try, Gibbs was stuffed on the quarterback sneak attempt when defensive tackle Aaron Reed wrapped him up for the stop.

"Our defense came up big in the second half," Harris said. "Our backs were against the wall a bit but we made plays."

North Lawndale had one more chance to score, driving the ball from their own 17-yard line with 1:05 remaining to the TEAM Englewood 25-yard line to have a shot at the end zone before Harris' interception iced the game.

Molette-Johnson scored North Lawndale's other touchdown in the first half while quarterback Derric Watson scored on a one-yard sneak and a 45-yard touchdown pass to Williams to round out the first half scoring.

© 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.