Minooka's Hill still a key piece

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:24PM

Spread offenses in football have relegated the fullback position to the non-glamour, bargain-bin aisle of the department store, so you might imagine Minooka junior Kalvin Hill's reaction to being the blue-light special.

Actually, Indians coach Bert Kooi credited offensive coordinator Frank Yudzentis and assistant coaches Paulie Forsythe and Ray Liberatore for having the light-bulb moment concerning Hill, normally a 5-foot-11, 180-pound wingback in their double-wing attack.

In prepping for Plainfield North, Yudzentis and Co. decided to insert a slot receiver, sophomore Max Brozovich, to spread out the Tigers' defense. That meant senior wingback Kyle Banks or Hill would be replaced, with junior Taylor Salazar staying at fullback.

Unless Hill moved there.

"We've practiced that all week, that's what I had to do for the team, and that's what I did," Hill said. "I had to block for my quarterback and get the tough yards when I was getting the ball at fullback, and we came out with the win. That's the most important thing."

With Hill rushing for a team-high 122 yards on 17 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns, Minooka notched its most important win of the season and then some, prevailing 35-34 over host North in overtime of the Southwest Prairie Conference showdown.

State record-holder or not, Colorado State-bound senior tailback Kapri Bibbs still shined like the sun - that would make him a Kapri Sun - by turning 31 carries into 198 yards and 3 TDs for Plainfield North (5-2, 4-1). His 79-yard romp on a toss sweep set the agenda of this meeting.

First play of the game, first carry, exhilarating touchdown by Bibbs. Eventually, though, Minooka (6-1, 4-1) forced a 14-14 tie and jumped ahead 21-14 - the latter with only 28 seconds before halftime - on back-to-back 3-yard TD thrusts out of the power-I by, you betcha, Hill.

On homecoming, however, North rallied in the fourth quarter behind senior quarterback Kyle Palandech (8 carries, 78 yards; 4-of-11, 73 yards) and earned a 28-28 tie. Then, on third down in OT and Minooka staring at a 34-28 deficit, Salazar scored on a 2-yard dive.

Poetic justice, indeed.

"Absolutely," Kooi said. "I think it goes back to, hopefully, what we're all about and what we believe we're all about. Those guys don't necessarily care who gets the yardage or who gets into the end zone. They care about us winning football games, and that's what it takes to be a special team."

"It's tough, but it was working for Kalvin at fullback," Salazar said. "I'm just happy we have such good running backs, and I have to make the best of it. He's one of my really good friends, so I was rooting for him, and it's for the team and for the best of the team."

To get the best out of superb senior quarterback Mitch Brozovich, who rushed for 58 yards on 18 carries and completed 6-of-10 passes for 118 yards, Yudzentis agreed with Forsythe and Liberatore that going deeper in the double-wing playbook would pay off.

"Plainfield North was putting eight guys in the box against our double-wing," Yudzentis said. "We saw that on film, and we felt if we could spread it out and get seven in the box, we would have a little better opportunity to run the ball. We ran it well in the first half and that series before half.

"This week, we started working Kalvin in at fullback because when we spread it out with the slot, we were taking out either Kyle or Kalvin. We decided that we couldn't take one of our best players, one of our best runners, off the field. We just thought it's senseless."

"Kyle and Kalvin are the two best backs on our team," Brozovich nodded. "Why not keep them on the field at the same time? We leave Kyle there at wingback, and Kalvin has stepped up. He did the job that we needed him to do."

So, too, did Salazar.

After Hill opened the OT with a 6-yard sweep out as a wingback out of the double-wing, Banks gained 2 yards out of the power-I. Salazar slipped into the end zone for the 34-34 deadlock and senior kicker Jason Lizalek's extra-point conversion clinched.

"I was ecstatic when I got across the goal line," said Salazar, who finished with 4 carries for 16 yards. "It felt amazing. It was a small, little seam but I dove in there and I got it. I was pretty nervous."

"That was actually a read play," Brozovich pointed out. "If the defensive tackle does one thing, I give it to Salazar and if not, I give it to Banks. But the read was to give it to Salazar, so I gave it to him and he punched it right in there."

Although Minooka began to celebrate, a penalty flag on Plainfield North led to Lizalek having to attempt a second PAT. As Salazar noted afterward, "I think my heart stopped," but Yudzentis praised Salazar for his savvy.

"Taylor didn't get as much time this week because we went to that different formation," Yudzentis said. "But he stayed positive when he was in the game for us, and what a great play to end the game."

For Minooka, placing Hill at fullback in the three-wide set and bringing back Salazar as the fullback in the double-wing justified the means to an end. It also created extra efforts from senior wideouts Eric Jakaitis (2 catches, 39 yards) and Dan Fox (2 catches, 48 yards).

"When I go to fullback, we get to spread people out and it gives Mitch more room to read the fills and run the option," Hill said. "Our receivers made great catches and we had great, tough runs for tough yards and touchdowns."

Three of Minooka's TDs came from its fullbacks, first Hill and finally Salazar, and Hill's huge sweep in OT on first down established the Indians' climb-the-hill tempo.

"The first thing I was thinking was to try and get into the end zone," Hill said. "But if I wasn't going to get in, I wanted to at least get close enough, and that is what happened. We know that we have great talent on this team. I thought we showed our true self and proved we're a good team."

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