Big second half propels Benet to win

EJ Howe ran for 166 yards in the second half alone as Benet ran out 35-14 winners over Glenbard South on Friday night at Benedictine University.

The host Red Wings saw a physical and powering outing from their offensive line which allowed Howe to do the bulk of his work.

"You live and die by the offensive line," said Howe, who would finish with 192 yards on 22 carries which featured a pair of scores. "Those guys did an excellent job. We talked about turning it around at halftime and being more physical and they did a great job."

For a while, it seemed like Benet's homecoming wouldn't be as straightforward as previously thought. The upset-minded Raiders (1-4) played well through the first half.

A 12-play drive that started in the first quarter and ended in the second saw the Raiders tie the game at seven when running back Wesley Sanders acrobatically one-handed a deflected pass in the end zone on 4th down after an errant Tyler Padera throw.

The lone Benet score of the opening half came when senior wide receiver Connor Nelligan raced in from 40 yards on a screen pass with 3:16 to go in the first quarter.

The second half was a different story.

A six-minute and two second drive that featured 12 plays (all runs) saw the Red Wings in the end zone after Howe raced in from four yards. The power and strength of the Red Wing line wasn't lost on coach Pat New who sees his team moved to 3-2.

"We've got some big guys here and they took charge. They wanted to establish themselves up front and we did a nice job of that."

After the teams traded possessions, Glenbard South took over at their own 43. A fumble on the first play after a bad snap gave Benet the ball in prime position.

It only took five plays before senior Pat Boyle bulled his way in from a yard to give the Red Wings a 21-7 advantage.

It was only the start of the Raider downfall.

On the next offensive snap, Padera was intercepted by junior safety Jim Lynch.

Two plays later and Howe raced in from 23 yards giving Benet their second offensive touchdown in 29 seconds.

A late Nelligan touchdown off a slant pattern from quarterback TJ Rickert---who replaced injured quarterback Nick Mankowski this week--- rounded out the Benet scoring.

For South coach Jeremy Cordell, it was a tough way to see the momentum change so quickly.

"We had six starters out on defense and we wanted to control the ball in the first half and we did a nice job. In the second half, everything caught up to us with a lot of two-way guys and our turnovers really hurt."

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