Short-handed Rangers fall to Streaks

Mather's Brian Shaw (middle) tries to break free from several Steinmetz defenders during last Friday's game against the Silver Streaks at Jorndt Field.
(Jason Brown/Staff Photographer)

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Despite losing another slew of starters before Friday's game against Steinmetz, Mather marched on and muscled its way to a two-point first half lead.

However, Steinmetz scored right before the half ended and tacked on another score in the second half, giving the Rangers a 22-8 loss.

"They had nothing to be ashamed of, I was proud of them," Mather head coach Paul Swiatly said. "We stayed in the game had a chance to win the game, I even felt at certain points we should've won the game, but we played hard and good, it's just a shame."

The Rangers countered Steinmetz's early touchdown in the first half to take an 8-6 lead. Omni Jimenez sprinted into the end zone and caught a four-yard touchdown pass. David Odukoya followed that up with a rush in for a two-point conversion and the lead.

Just before halftime Mather (0-5, 1-7 Illini Red-Bird) couldn't get the stop it needed, and Steinmetz capitalized to take a 14-8 halftime lead.

The Rangers battled throughout the third quarter, stopping Steinmetz three times in the red zone. Yet Mather couldn't get on the board again as one potential score went in-and-out of a receiver's hands, and another would-be touchdown pass was caught barely out of bounds by Steven Olopo on what would have been a sensational snag and perhaps a tie game.

Steinmetz intercepted a pass in the fourth and returned it for the final score.

With just 17 players in uniform Mather mustered perhaps its best game of the season.

"Every one of those 17 kids contributed at some point or another," Swiatly said. "It was sad to see them lose. I told them after the game how proud I was."

Mather will play Corliss, 10 a.m. Saturday at Eckersall Stadium.

Lane lacked punch at the start of last Friday's game against Curie, but the Indians roared to life after the first quarter in a game for second place in the Illini Red Bird.

A blocked punt by Lane near the goal line was recovered by Casey O'Brien in the end zone, bringing Lane within four in the fourth quarter. Another blocked kick came minutes later, but Curie got its hands on a Lane punt this time, putting away the Indians 34-16.

"They jumped on us early, I don't think we came with a lot of focus," Lane head coach Rich Rio said. "We were down 20-3 right away before we started to get things going."

Missed tackles by Lane (6-2, 3-2) allowed Curie to score on its first snap of the game.

A Rudolfo Fransual 20-yard field goal gave Lane its only points during the first quarter.

Looking for a big play Lane's defense forced a fumble and Rashee Allen recovered the loose ball on the 10-yard line. That set up Frank Bougher's run into the end zone in the second quarter, but the Indians were still one step behind.

In the third, O'Brien pounced on the blocked punt to put Lane down just 20-16 with time to spare. The linebacker led the team in tackles and turned in another outstanding effort.

Yet Curie turned the momentum right back around with its blocked punt, and they followed that up with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a insurmountable lead.

"We just didn't play a very good game," Rio said. "They did what they had to do. We didn't tackle very well early and didn't play."

Linebacker Ervin Velic and defensive end Andre Alvarez also led a strong defense from the second quarter-on, as the 'D' tightened up and didn't allow a touchdown after halftime.

"They played very well, had a good effort and made a lot of tackles," Rio said.

Lane will now face Dunbar in the Illini playoffs, 7 p.m. Thursday at Lane Stadium.

The Indians will be looking to advance starting with a bang.

"They should realize it's the playoffs and be ready to play," Rio said.

Both teams were looking for their first conference win and in the end Lake View (2-6, 1-5) prevailed over Amundsen (1-7, 0-5)

Going against Catholic Green opponent Guerin, Gordon Tech needed a big win vs. the second place team in conference but fell short.

The Rams face Loyola Academy, 1 p.m. Saturday in Wilmette.

Noble Street had a chance to clobber Kelvyn Park last Saturday but ultimately lost 22-12 at Hanson Stadium.

The Sea Dragons (2-6, 2-4) dropped their last regular season game 47-3 to Chicago Academy last Saturday.