Lincoln-Way West keeps title hopes alive

Lincoln-Way West came to Thornwood on Saturday looking to keep pace with division foes Andrew and Thornton atop the SouthWest Suburban Red standings.

Thanks to Nick Dangles’ running and Adam Slattery’s pass catching, the visiting Warriors were able to do just that with a 21-7 victory that kept them in the hunt for at least a share of the conference crown.

“I think it’s great. We did well as a team,” Dangles said. “Coming into our last game and the next game is to win conference. To win that is going to give us a ton of momentum heading into the playoffs.”

Dangles, a junior tailback, was the horsepower in West’s engine, motoring for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Slattery was the main target through the air, racking up 149 yards, including a 45-yard score, on six receptions.

Dangles started the scoring for the Warriors (6-2, 5-1) by rumbling 28 yards untouched to the end zone to put West up 7-0 with 6:26 left in the first quarter.

Thornwood (4-4, 2-4) responded early in the second frame. Cedric Doxy beat his man and Patrick Bolton hit him in stride for a 48-yard strike to tie the score.

Dangles gave West the lead back five minutes later on a third-and-two play. Three Thunderbirds had him stuffed for a loss, but Dangles broke out of their grasp and raced 19 yards to put West up 14-7.

Kyle Millner (13-of-22, 218 yards) tossed a 45-yard bomb to Slattery with 1:45 left in the half to give the Warriors breathing room.

“I think we did a good job of passing the ball, and our receivers did a good job of catching the ball and getting it up field,” Dangles said. “Knowing that we can run or pass makes it a good opportunity.”

Thornwood, which won its first four games of the season, was trying to keep its playoff hopes alive and stop a losing skid that has reached four games.

The Thunderbirds had their chances in the second half. Bolton broke loose for a 69-yard run in the third quarter, which set up a first-and-goal inside the 5. But Thornwood couldn’t punch it home on four tries and wound up turning the ball over on downs.

Thornwood had another march to the red zone in the fourth quarter only to see it falter at the 10.

“It’s been a rough four weeks,” Thornwood coach Wil Milhouse said. “We had our chances, but you have to be focused. You can’t have the mental errors.”

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