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Evanston knocks off Zion-Benton
Updated: September 3, 2011 2:46AM
The temperature was hot and steamy in Zion on Friday night.
But for Evanston, it felt like late December … literally like Christmas.
The visiting Wildkits got 25 gift-wrapped points on Zee-Bee special-team blunders, and parlayed that into a 32-15 non-conference win that evened their season record at 1-1.
“We caught a couple of breaks and took advantage of them,” said Evanston coach Mike Burzawa. “We take pride in our special teams, but we got a couple of gifts on bad punt snaps.
“Christmas came early for us tonight.”
The game unfolded in the oddest of ways.
Zion got touchdowns from Alex Pasiewicz (22 carries 155 yards) on a 36-yard run in the first quarter and Carlton Reynolds on a 22-yard run in the second quarter.
But after each touchdown, Evanston returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.
Xavier Levy got the first on an 88-yard run and Ray Bahr got the second on a 76-yard jaunt.
After Bahre’s score pulled Evanston within 15-13, Zion’s kickoff-return team fumbled the ball away, setting up Evanston for t he go-ahead score before the half.
Then, in the second half, Zion twice snapped the ball out of the end zone while trying to punt. The pair of safeties meant special teams handed Evanston 25 points.
“Coach Denny Hall, does a great does a great job with our special teams,” said Burzawa. “We tried a few different things and it worked out.”
The Wildkits’ other score came on an 18-yard pass from Max Bordo to Ibrahim Muhammad.
Zion did nothing after the break. In the final two quarters, its possessions were: safety, punt, lost ball on downs, safety and interception.
“We didn’t tackle very well in the first half, but we made some adjustments and tackled better in the second half,” said Burzawa.
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