Uplift knew exactly how to celebrate its first-ever Homecoming varsity football game: a dominating 36-6 win over conference foe Rickover Naval Academy last Thursday at Jorndt Field.
Behind a good-sized crowd, the Titans scored early and often as they improved to 4-1 and 3-0 in the Inter-City North.
"It was a good game and the team played hard," Uplift quarterback Sened Tesfay said. "We've practiced hard and I'm glad we won. We're going to keep on bringing it."
Uplift's offense was firing on all cylinders early on as they scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns. Tesfay found the end zone on a one-yard sneak and Jameel Carter beat everyone to the edge on a 36-yard touchdown.
Not content with a 12-0 lead, the Titans would score three more times in the second quarter. Darrian Kelly scored on a two-yard run, Kevin Peterson picked up a fumble and raced 22 yards for a TD and Terrance Willis reached the end zone on a 22-yard scamper.
"My friend (Jamal Carter) caused a fumble and I just picked it up and returned it," said Peterson, who also had a big sack for a 20-yard loss. "We just did our job, what we're supposed to do. We just need to keep doing what we were taught."
That's how the score would remain until the fourth quarter when Darian Reed became the sixth Titan to score a touchdown, this one a six-yard run.
Rickover Naval Academy finally woke up in the fourth quarter as they drove the field in the game's final minutes. Ramiro Robles bulled his way into the end zone on a 13-yard run with 34 seconds left in the game.
"We weren't really focusing and we didn't do our job," Robles said. "I guess we just fell apart. We always start slow in the first quarter and that's something we need to get rid of."
The Sea Dragons offense just couldn't get going in the first half. They had -20 yards of offense in the first half and that had to frustrate head coach Tyrik Jackson.
"This game has been on both team's radar for a long time," Jackson said. "This is kind of like our Super Bowl. They got started fast in the first quarter and we were sluggish. Then it snowballed.
"They were able to capitalize on it. This is something we have to work on. Our stars have to come out and be ready to play."
Up next for Rickover will be an Inter-City crossover game against Kennedy, 3 p.m. Saturday at Jorndt Field.
"We have to come out hungry and get it done in the first half," Jackson said. "Teams aren't going to let us mess around in the first half and then turn it on in the second half."
For Uplift, the start to the season has been remarkable but they're going to face a real big test this week when they travel to Chicago Academy for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday. The Cougars are also 4-1 and 3-0 in conference and everyone knows how important this Week 6 game will be.
"Chicago Academy's coming up and that's a big game for us," Tesfay said. "That could be the conference title right there. We just have to practice hard this week and be ready for them on Saturday."
Northside College Prep's boys team turned in a performance of a lifetime at the Leyden Invite last Saturday.
Behind the 1-2 punch of Jonathan Kittaka (3rd, 15:56) and Cuitlahuac Pineda Youniss (4th, 15:57), the Mustangs won the meet in what head coach Jon Gordon called "the greatest team performance in the history of Northside College Prep."
Both runners joined alum John Krumsee as the only athletes to break the 16-minute barrier at Northside Prep.
Sophomore Cooper Eben was sixth in a time of 16:22, while freshman Charlie Mesimore (14th, 16:37) and Jiasong Yang (23rd, 17:08). All three ran personal bests at Leyden.
The Mustangs will try to keep improving this weekend when they travel to the Pat Savage Invite at Niles West.
On the girls side Northside Prep took third in the meet behind Willowbrook (1st) and Glenbrook North (2nd).
Rachel Kittaka was the highest finisher for Northside taking fourth place. Her time of 18:39 broke the school record and bested her time of 19:00 on the same course last year.
Other key contributors for the Mustangs were Anni Zotti (11th, 19:35), Carmen Abelson (16th, 20:05), Anna Parks (23rd, 20:43), Adaora Achufusi (36th, 21:47), Su Yang (37th, 21:53) and Julia Shimada (40th, 22:04).
Missing two of their top girls runners, the Dolphins still cruised to a win in an invite they hosted last Saturday.
Devyn Thompson took first place in a time of 19:04 for Whitney Young, who was without top runner Rachel Joravsky as well as Biyang Wang.
The Dolphins won the meet with 62 points while Rolling Meadows was second with 66.
On the boys side, Whitney Young took fourth place (148) behind Rolling Meadows (33), Mather (93) and Walther Lutheran (93).
Mather's Ivan Coronel won the race in a time of 16:15.
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