River Forest shuts down rival Lake Station

Updated: September 3, 2011 6:28PM

LAKE STATION — The rivalry may still be there, but on this night, it couldn’t have been more one-sided.

River Forest dominated the first half and coasted through the second, easily dispatching conference opponent Lake Station 40-0.

“It was a total team effort,” said River Forest (2-1, 1-0 GSSC) coach Jeff Bean. “Defense and offense played well … it’s just a great victory for us. We’re excited to get the win and be 1-0 in our conference.”

While the Ingots offense shined in the first half, it was the River Forest defense that really stole the show.

“Our guys really swarmed to the ball tonight,” said Bean. “They did a great job of reading their keys.”

After forcing a quick three-and-out by Lake Station’s offense on the opening series of the game, River Forest QB JJ Pennington tossed a jump ball deep into the Eagles secondary, looking for receiver Jaime Cervantes. Despite his 5-8 frame, Cervantes out-jumped two Lake Station defenders for the pass, gaining 36 yards. Pennington added an 8-yard score a few plays later to open the floodgates.

Another Lake Station three-and-out was followed by a 55-yard scamper from Ingots senior Brandon Armour to put the Ingots in scoring position. Pennington added his second score of the game with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ramon Diaz.

Lake Station’s offense continued to reel, River Forest took over and Pennington again found Diaz for a touchdown, this time from 9 yards out.

The Eagles failed to manage a first down in the first half, and Brandon Laas returned their fourth punt og the game 72 yards for a touchdown, moving the Ingots ahead to an insurmountable 28-0 lead.

While Lake Station’s halftime deficit stayed at 28 points, its situation grew more desperate in the second quarter when freshman QB Kody Lemley left the game with an apparent left arm injury and did not return.

Armour had the biggest game for the Ingots, racking up 102 yards on eight carries.

“Brandon was a pleasant surprise tonight for us, he really ran tough,” said Bean. “We’ve been working with him on consistently moving his feet.”

The Ingots final tallies came in the third quarter. A botched snap on a Lake Station punt attempt rolled into the end zone, and Jake Diaz recovered for a touchdown. Later in the third, Tim Mendez scored from four yards out to cap the scoring.

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