Indians shake off youth, pound Kenwood

Striking like lightning Lane Tech lit up the scoreboard to start its season with a big win.

With just three seniors on offense and defense -- most of whom did not play a major role last year -- the Indians knew staying calm was the key in the 48-0 win over Kenwood at Hanson Stadium on Friday. Now, the inexperienced squad can no longer fall back on that excuse.

"I told em after the game 'You'll never hear me say we're young again because you've all played now,'" Lane Tech head coach Rich Rio said.

After not playing last season, senior quarterback Frank Bougher led the offensive to a touchdown on the Indians' first drive of the game. Bougher kept the ball on an option and darted into the end zone from 10 yards out for a 7-0 lead.

Then the Lane defense completely barricaded Kenwood from moving the chains, allowing only one first down in the game, which came on the second to last play of the contest.

On the next drive of the first quarter, Bougher connected with fellow senior Steve Guevarra on a 15-yard touchdown pass down the sidelines.

Boosting the lead to 21-0, the Indians' third and most experienced starting senior, running back Chris Blackmon, scampered in from four yards out.

Then the youth began moving all over, starting with sophomore Thaddeus Scott. In his first varsity game Scott tallied a touchdown on a 20-yard run, just one among many good sprints for Scott.

"He's going to be an outstanding player," Rio said. "He's got great speed and great vision, which you need as a running back. For as young as he is that's pretty promising."

Capping the first half scoring for the Indians, Bougher struck again using his legs for a three-yard touchdown run, giving Lane a 35-0 lead heading into halftime.

On the defensive side senior captain Casey O'Brien united the young group and had two sacks. Sophomore defensive end Louis Trinca-Pasat also notched two sacks in the game.

"O'Brien is the mainstay, he didn't play a lot last year but (against Kenwood) he was a major impact player," Rio said.

Kicker Rodolfo Fransual made good on all five of his extra-point tries, but didn't get a shot at the sixth after a bad snap. Fransual also came up about a yard short on a 37-yard field goal try.

"He's gonna be fine for us," Rio said.

Even with the big lead Lane continued to keep a level head throughout the game, which impressed Rio.

"The fact that we are so young, playing a lot of sophomores and juniors, I thought everyone played pretty hard and pretty composed for being that young and inexperienced," Rio said. "I think it's always good to win the first time out, young kids playing their first varsity game, to develop some success builds confidence.

"That's what I thought was probably the most impressive thing, that they played with that kind of composure. Everyone played extremely well in the first game."

In the second half junior quarterback Luis Negron took the helm and scored on a 15-yard run near the end of the third quarter. Sophomore Alex Brown scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run to finalize the score at 48-0.

Lane will get a good test this week as they travel to Evanston for a non-conference showdown, Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Last year, the Indians lost to the Wildkits 27-0 in the second week of the season, so they'll definitely be looking for a little revenge.