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Fenton dashes Elmwood Park playoff hopes
Updated: October 15, 2011 12:32AM
Two key turnovers turned into the only two touchdowns of the game as Fenton defended its home field with a 14-0 win over Metro Suburban Conference rival Elmwood Park Friday night in Bensenville.
The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Bison (6-2, 1-2) while the loss was the Tigers’ (3-5, 0-3) second straight and ended any hopes of making the playoffs.
“After two straight losses some doubt starts to creep in,” said Fenton head coach Mark Kos, “but we have shown that we can overcome adversity and that we can play 48 minutes of football. I think we’re capable of so much more.”
The game started off like a gem for the Bison as they recovered an Elmwood Park fumble on the opening kickoff setting the home team up on the Tigers’ 25-yard line. An Alan Geneva 23-yard run set up quarterback Sean Havlovic’s two-yard score. Geneva punched it in for the two-point conversion that gave the Bison an 8-0 lead after just 21 seconds of play.
Fenton continued to move the ball, but penalties and a stingy Elmwood Park defense would keep them out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
“I thought our defense played a great game,” Elmwood Park coach Luis Arroyo said. “They forced turnovers, but we can’t give them the ball at our 30 or 40 and get results. I’m proud of the way they answered and the stops they made.”
The second half of the game saw some tension build as emotions flared at times. Elmwood Park’s Marcellus Hunter was ejected because the referee judged that he had taken a swing at Fenton’s Gervonta Walls as Hunter took exception to the way Walls’ finished his hit on him on what was an incomplete pass.
Two plays later, Walls intercepted Elmwood Park quarterback Tom Senn’s pass at the Tiger’s 40. The ensuing play saw a 40-yard touchdown run negated by a holding penalty, but that was all forgotten when Geneva finally controlled Havlovic’s pass and took it in for the score from 47 yards out.
“We had great success with what we were trying to do, but we didn’t continue that success with points,” said Kos. “We’ve got to realize that we must stop beating ourselves. When I looked at our schedule back in June when we got started, I said that the only team I feared was ourselves. We have a lot of great individuals here, but we need to figure out how to be a team.”
Elmwood Park’s final two possessions fizzled deep in Fenton territory as the game continued being chippy. Fenton finishes the season at Riverside-Brookfield, while the Tigers host arch-rival Ridgewood.
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