Vikings push past Lockport

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:26PM

From 1-8 and oh so out, to undoubtedly in with two games to spare.

Homewood-Flossmoor senior Malik Norman said it was more than just great that Friday night's 28-21 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over visiting Lockport put the Vikings in clinch position for an at-large state playoff berth.

"It's a blessing, just running hard and beating all these teams," affirmed Norman, who rushed for 244 yards and three touchdowns for the Vikings (5-2, 4-1).

He gave credit to his counterpart at Lockport, Dan Holman, who rushed 32 times for 180 yards and all three scores for the Porters (4-3, 2-3).

But not too much credit.

"I know about him and he's a good back," Norman said with a smile. "But I figure I'm better."

On this night, he couldn't be stopped. With 29 carries, he was the bulk of the H-F offense, although quarterback Timothy Williams (9-of-16, 141 yards) provided some key passes when they were needed the most.

What would be the difference-making touchdown came early in the fourth period, when Norman capped a 74-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run. Anthony Crescenti kicked his fourth PAT to make it 28-14.

Lockport made things interesting a bit later, going 68 yards itself and scoring with 3:46 remaining on a 1-yard blast by Holman.

After deciding against an onside kick, the Porters defense twice put H-F in third-and-long situations deep in its own territory, but Norman bailed the Vikings out both times with a 17-yard pass reception and run, and a 40-yard carry.

A wild first quarter saw touchdowns on each of the first four possessions. Holman scored on runs of 18 and 47 yards for Lockport, while Willie Ross caught an 8-yard pass from Williams and Norman tallied on a 10-yard run.

H-F seized the momentum with a 3-play drive midway through the second period, the highlight a 32-yard pass from Williams to Lantz Sims and the payoff a 14-yard run by Norman that made it 21-14 at the half.

"Without a doubt, he scared us," Lockport coach Bret Kooi said of Norman. "He's hard to tackle. H-F was very good offensively, but at the end we still believed we could make a stop.

"That's why we didn't onside kick. We had them in third down (situations) twice there, we just couldn't come up with the stop."

Lockport quarterback Billy Reed was 9-of-14 for 105 yards.

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