Titans regroup in third quarter for important victory

Downtrodden throughout the first half of Saturday's key conference game against Noble Street Charter, Uplift couldn't convert its chances to score.

Whether it was the heat, nerves or something else, Uplift recovered in the third quarter led by Darrian Kelly, who muscled his way to the end zone three times en route to a 22-12 win at Jorndt Field.

Uplift's stellar season has them at 5-0 in the Inter-City North and 6-1 overall on the season.

"I didn't know if it was the heat or what, but my kids were real out of it, we were playing way down," Uplift coach Rick Alboyd said.

At halftime Uplift led 8-6 but dropped five passes in or near the end zone as the team fought to stay energetic.

"We were playing against ourselves this game," Alboyd said. "Senad Tesfay was throwing it amazing, the receivers were just down."

After the half Kelly put Uplift ahead 22-6 with touchdown runs of five, 30, and 20 yards. Kelly, who also battled dehydration, rushed for 130 yards in the game.

"He picked up the team this game," Alboyd said. "It's been someone every week stepping up and it was his week. The whole team went through a lot of coolers of water. (Kelly) was drained too, I had to hydrate him real good. I was hoping it wasn't a virus."

Now they hope to keep the trend going with another step forward and a new star emerging for a day.

"We pulled it off, they were all hurt," Alboyd said. "During the first quarter it was like all the kids went numb on me. But they stepped it up. The second string really stepped up and did the job."

Noble Street cut into the lead on a touchdown reception that was nearly intercepted late in the fourth quarter to put the game at 22-14.

Uplift plays Roosevelt, 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Jorndt Field.

The team is hungry to play quite a few games after that as well.

"The game is for the whole conference," Alboyd said. "We're feeling confident, oh yeah. They weren't upset but they weren't happy with their performance. They said 'Yeah, we won, but we played terrible coach.'"

After opening the season with a win Amundsen took a sixth straight loss as the Vikings fell 27-0 to Schurz Friday at Jorndt Field.

Now Amundsen is 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big Shoulders conference.

The Vikings will play Lake View Saturday, 11 a.m., at Winnimac Stadium.

Providence 49 Gordon Tech 0

Following two consecutive wins Gordon Tech was overwhelmed in a 49-0 loss to Providence Catholic Friday at North Park College.

The Rams play Guerin Prep, 7:30 p.m. Friday at North Park College.

The Bulldogs fell to Kelly in a Second City contest last Friday at Jorndt Field, putting Senn at 2-5 overall and 1-3 in conference.

The Bulldogs take on Juarez, 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Jorndt Field.