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‘Goofy’ Minooka defense steps up vs South
during the first quarter as Minooka's Alexander Hamilton (44) brings pressure
in Minooka Friday September, 23, 2011.| Ray Luna ~ For Sun-Times Media
Updated: September 24, 2011 12:53AM
Minooka football coach Bert Kooi says “they’re a little goofy, but it’s a good goofy.”
The Good Goofies put on a defensive show for the home crowd Friday, collecting three turnovers and smothering dangerous Dantrell Wright most of the night in leading the Indians to a huge 23-7 Southwest Prairie victory over Plainfield South.
“Yeah, our defensive guys are fun to be around, and Coach (Chris) Ferko and Coach (Paige) Schoolman did a great job preparing them,” Kooi said.
“Wright hurt us so badly in the two games last year (a 41-31 South victory and a 41-38 Minooka win) that I was afraid to look back and see how many touchdowns he had.”
An all-area receiver in 2010, Wright has been used at tailback and receiver this year. His line Friday read 10 rushes for 10 yards and five catches for 73, one a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter that set up the Cougars’ touchdown.
“We’ve got great senior leaders on defense,” Kooi said, citing end Alex Hamilton, tackles Walter Vesper and Jake Residori and linebacker Jake Petrovic. “They are fun at practice, and they work hard.”
Another of those seniors, safety Luke Carey, was in the right place at the right time all night. With Minooka (3-2, 3-0) leading 7-0, he intercepted a pass long over the middle at the Indians’ 2-yard line and returned it 58 yards to end the first quarter and set up the second of three Kalvin Hill touchdown runs. Hill scored from 18, 33 and 5 yards out and finished with 117 yards in 23 carries.
Later, Carey recovered a fumble by South (3-2, 2-1) and a muffed punt.
“We’ve been working on creating turnovers,” he said. “I was in the right spot when they put the ball on the ground. On the interception, my guy pass blocked so I dropped back to help in coverage.”
Austin Howarth completed 20-of-33 passes for 241 yards for South, but the Cougars netted only 13 yards rushing. Minooka also benefitted from excellent special teams as punter Steve Wittkamp and kicker Jake Stytz played huge roles.
“The kicking game is critical any time the game is on the line,” South coach Ken Bublitz said. “You can’t underestimate it. Give Minooka credit, they put our backs to the wall with their kicking game and their defense was outstanding. They were sticky on Wright all night.”
Bublitz also praised South’s defense for its effort against an opponent that had scored more than 50 points each of the last two weeks. This time, it just wasn’t enough.
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