Goal-line stand lifts West Side to comeback win

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GARY -- It was a dilemma no self-respecting West Side football senior wanted to be a part of: Lose to Roosevelt on Friday night and you will be 0-for-4 against your biggest rival.

And when Roosevelt had a 14-6 third quarter lead and a first and goal on the Cougar 2-yard line, it looked like the West Side seniors would have some explaining to do every time they visit a class reunion.

And when Roosevelt had a 14-6 third quarter lead and a first and goal on the Cougar 2-yard line, it looked like the West Side seniors would have some explaining to do every time they visit a class reunion.

But the Cougars defense stoned the Panthers on four straight plays, one of three times they would stop Roosevelt in the red zone in the second half on the way to a 20-14 win over the Panthers, giving West Side the Northwestern Conference title.

But the Cougars defense stoned the Panthers on four straight plays, one of three times they would stop Roosevelt in the red zone in the second half on the way to a 20-14 win over the Panthers, giving West Side the Northwestern Conference title.

"They made a good defense stop, their coach called the right plays and we didn't execute well," Panthers quarterback Keenan Davis said.

And because the black and gold didn't convert when they had their opportunities, the Cougars ended any chance the Panthers had of winning a fifth straight conference title with a 28-yard, 14-14 tie-breaking reverse by Julian Taylor with 4:01 left in the game, finishing a 76-yard drive.

"It feels very good," Taylor said. "We worked very hard for it. We were very hungry this year so I think we deserve it. Not to sound cocky but the reverse was easy. Coach (Gene) Johnson trained us for this and I worked hard for it."

It took hard work for the Cougars to pick up the come from behind win. Roosevelt, reinventing itself into a running team after almost every member of last year's pass-happy, record-setting squad graduated, grounded out a 14-6 lead in the third quarter, thanks to a two-yard run by Davis and a 30 yard run by Khiry Gary, the first time Roosevelt had taken the lead on an opponent this season (their other win was a forfeit against Wallace because of a scheduling conflict).

But the Panthers had three chances in the third and fourth quarters to add to their lead with three possessions deep in West Side territory, but had nothing to show for it.

With momentum swung to the orange and blue, the Cougars tied the game on a third quarter Antonio Ellis 40 yard TD pass to Brian Burtin.  Late in the fourth quarter, it was Taylor's run that applied the dagger.

"It was a team effort," said West Side wide receiver Marquis Nichols, who caught a 21 yard TD pass to give West Side a 6-0 lead. "It feels real good to be conference champions. I waited three years for this. Coach told us at halftime we have to start using team work and play with focus. That's what we had to do because we didn't play like a team in the first half."

Ellis wound up with 7-for-15 passing for 200 yards and two TD passes for West Side.

Roosevelt, which wound up with 22 passing yards (which they normally would have picked up after one possession last year), ran the ball for 208 yards. But it was the two yards they didn't pick up in the third quarter that ultimately sealed their fate.