Bolingbrook defense downs Lockport

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:18PM

Lockport senior running back Dan Holman has been running roughshod over just about everyone the last couple of seasons.

Bolingbrook was the recipient of a vintage Holman effort a year ago, when the Porters hung a 41-14 whuppin' on the eventual SouthWest Suburban Blue champion Raiders.

But the young kids Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow has playing for him this time around either have short memories, or no recollection of the past at all.

The Raiders' defense came out Friday night zeroed in on the imaginary target on Holman's chest. They never flinched as Bolingbrook scored a huge 14-7 victory to open the SWS Blue portion of the schedule.

"With their size in the offensive line, we knew we had to do something," Raiders veteran defensive coordinator Bob Corra said. "We did a lot of slanting in the defensive line. We were able to get pressure from our front four without any linebackers coming."

The Bolingbrook defensive front featured senior tackles Josh Stoll and Marcus Clark and junior end Greg Gordon, while seniors Calvin Brayboy and Bryant Etherton shared the other end slot. The linebackers were juniors Antonio Morrison and Andre Allen, along with senior A.J. Mesik.

When Allen left with an injury, junior Austin Van Meter stepped in and delivered.

The front seven were largely responsible for limiting Holman to 78 yards in 15 carries. "The Tank" rushing for under 100 happens just about never.

"He (Holman) scared me every time he had his hands on the ball," Corra said. "But we stopped the run better than we did last week (in a 31-8 loss to Belleville East).

"We had some juniors really step up, like Andre Allen until he got hurt, then Van Meter when he got in, and Greg Gordon and Antonio Morrison."

"It was intensity up front that did it," Gordon said. "Our goal was to stop him (Holman). We know he's not a physical player and we tried to hit him from the start."

Morrison said he remembered Holman having a big game last year against the Raiders (2-1, 1-0). "We game-planned all week for him," he said.

Ivlow noted that Lockport (2-1, 0-1) is the third straight quality opponent his young team has faced. And this time, the Raiders led all the way.

Senior fullback Lamar Hooper's 41-yard run midway through the first quarter made it 7-0. Lockport theatened to get even, but on first down from the Bolingbrook 14, a high snap out of shotgun formation resulted in a 20-yard loss and effectively killed the threat.

In the second quarter, Lockport junior defensive back Connor Wilson intercepted an Aaron Bailey pass to snuff out a Raiders' march that had reached a second-and-6 on the Porters' 22.

But the next time Bolingbrook had the ball, the Raiders scored on Bailey's 47-yard bubble screen to senior Dan Fisher. Bolingbrook took that 14-0 lead to the locker room as Jibril Armstead finished off the half with an interception at the Raiders' 10, which he returned 51 yards.

Lockport's Dexter Taylor was denied a 74-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter when the Porters were whistled for having five men in the backfield.

The Porters finally broke through in the fourth quarter. After Jimmy Girodano's fumble recovery, the Porters drove 81 yards, scoring on Mike Haldeman's 19-yard sweep with 5:35 left. Suddenly it was a 14-7 game, and Lockport needed a stop.

Instead, speedy junior D.J. Pruitt returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the the Porters' 34. Even though the Lockport defense eventually held, forcing a missed field goal, there was too little time for the offense to do enough against the fired-up Raiders defense.

"The return (by Pruitt) after their touchdown was huge," said Ivlow said, whose team held a 292-230 edge in total yards. "We were trying to figure out how they were going to kick it, and we flipped our speedster back there, and he did what he does."

"That return was a place where we've got to be able to step up," Lockport coach Bret Kooi said. "I thought this was a game where we hurt ourselves.

"We snapped the ball over our quarterback's head when we were in the red zone, had a turnover in the red zone, had five men in the backfield - there are some things we need to clean up.

"And, they (Raiders) played very well defensively. We did not respond well to what they were doing."

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