Andrew rushes past Lincoln-Way North

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:18PM

Under a possum-hunting moon, Andrew went out and bagged its limit of Phoenix on Friday night.

Andrew's resounding 34-14 victory over eighth-ranked Lincoln-Way North opens the way for Thornton to capture the SouthWest Suburban Red without benefit of a tiebreaker by beating Thornridge on Saturday. North is 7-2, 5-2, Thornton 7-1, 5-1.

Andrew, meanwhile, is one of the better 4-5 teams around. The Thunderbolts used 166 rushing yards and three touchdown runs from senior Andre Gahan, plus four North turnovers and two muffed returns, to dominate the game from start – Nick DeBenedetti's 90-yard kickoff return touchdown opened the festivities – to finish.

"We definitely came in with a positive attitude," said Gahan, who finishes the season with 752 ground yards and nine rushing touchdowns. "This was Senior Night. This was it."

The Thunderbolts, 3-4 in league play, had one too many narrow losses, or they would be looking forward to a playoff game as much as North.

"I'm happy for the seniors to go out like that," Andrew coach Jim Zimmer said. "Gahan ran with his eyes up and saw a lot of the holes our offensive line opened up. He ran with a great purpose today."

In contrast, North stumbled early and couldn't play catch-up fast enough. It was similar to the Phoenix' game at Thornton, when the Wildcats took advantage of six turnovers and a muffed punt for a 52-20 rout.

"Absolutely," Phoenix coach George Czart said. "We were very sloppy on offense, turned the ball over, and special teams hurt. As the game wore on, Andrew took advantage of us turning the ball over."

Lincoln-Way North had already clinched a playoff berth. This, then, was the Phoenix' mulligan.

"They're kids," Czart said. "They'll have bad days, just like adults do. But they've got to know now the consequences of having another game like this: We're done."

Andrew's Kevin O'Neill was 7-of-19 for 71 yards, directing the Thunderbolts to five scores, including a pair of Matt Biernay field goals, in 12 series. Gahan scored on runs of 4 and 1 yards in the first half, and on a 10-yard carry with 41.5 seconds remaining in the game.

Three of North's first four drives ended in turnovers, with quarterback Jack Irace throwing an interception and fumbling twice, the last miscue setting up Andrew's third touchdown. Irace ended up 7-of-25 for 110 yards.

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