Romeoville's dedication a hit

Romeoville Runningback #34 Cameron Stingily outruns Evergreen Park defenders to gain a first down on Friday night at Romeoville High School.
(Michael Dinovo/Special to The Herald News)

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ROMEOVILLE -- Romeoville High School christened its renovated football stadium in a special ceremony Friday night.

And to complete the festive occasion, the Spartans went out and buried nonconference foe Evergreen Park 40-6. After last week's 29-28 road victory at Waukegan, they have Romeoville Nation thinking pleasant thoughts.

"Obviously there was a little bit of atmosphere here tonight," first-year coach Jeff Kuna said. "Last week was the springboard for what was coming up tonight.

"We had some momentum coming into this week, and we have a new stadium. We knew were going to have a big crowd. I think people wanted to come out and find out if we are for real after what happened last week, or was it a fluke?"

Fluke? Hardly.

The Spartans showed they are anything but a fluke by scoring 14 points in the first quarter against the Mustangs (0-2). Cameron Stingily took it 40 yards for the first score on the Spartans' first possession. Running back Terrance Williams scored from 10 yards out on Romeoville's next possession to make it 14-0.

Quarterback Erik Pierce finished a 12-play, 83-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard run to make it 21-0 with 8:11 to play in the second quarter.

The Spartans then recovered an onside kick at the Mustangs' 39. They drove down and scored on a 7-yard run by Derrick Lewis, making it 27-0.

After holding Evergreen Park to a three-and-out, the Spartans took over at their own 49 and needed seven plays for their next score. The key play in the drive was Pierce's 38-yard pass completion to tight end Westin Wirkus, putting the ball at the 3. Charles Miller ran it in a play later, and it was 34-0 at halftime.

Kentaro Pierce accounted for the Spartans final score on a 19-yard run with 3:56 to play. In all, six players scored for Romeoville, including five running backs.

"We know coming into a game we have different backs and they all bring a little bit something different to the table. They are all good, fast, hard downhill runners and they showed it tonight."

"It was a great effort by everybody," agreed Kentaro Pierce, who rushed 15 times for 101 yards. "It wasn't just one player. The coaches have confidence that each one of us (running backs) can get the job done when we come in."

In addition to Pierce's 101-yard night, Stingily ran for 61 in 3 carries and Lewis was 15 for 69 as the Spartans piled up 304 on 53 carries. Romeoville's defense also played well, holding Evergreen Park to 5 first downs and 6 net yards on 17 rushing attempts while forcing 2 turnovers.