Pennington lifts River Forest to victory

Updated: October 8, 2011 4:06PM

LAKE STATION — River Forest junior quarterback J.J. Pennington had 114 yards on 28 carries, but his final carry of the evening was the biggest on senior night.

Pennington capped a 15-play, 85-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Ingots a 16-10 win over Whiting on Friday night at River Forest.

“We knew it would be a battle,” Pennington said. “We had to do it for the seniors.”

The first half was pretty much a defensive struggle until John Flores blocked an Oilers punt at the 15-yard line with 1:28 remaining in the half. Five snaps later, Pennington took it in from the 2.

River Forest figured it would take a 6-0 lead into the half, and squib-kicked the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered at mid-field by the Oilers with 13.6 seconds remaining in the half. A roughing-the-passer call and a pass-interference penalty allowed Whiting’s Alvaro Castelan to drill a 29-yard field goal with no time remaining. Castelan’s kick was right down the middle to make the score 6-3 at the half.

The Oilers took a 10-6 lead with 9:54 left in the third quarter as freshman running back Ethan Young carried five times for 51 yards, the final four resulting in a touchdown. Young finished the evening with 108 yards on 11 carries. The Castelan extra point gave the Oilers a four-point lead.

Whiting punter Jesse Maynard was forced to kick the ball out of his end zone with 2:08 remaining in the third for a safety and the quarter ended with Whiting up 10-8.

After River Forest’s decisive drive and Pennington’s go-ahead touchdown run, the Oilers made the last 1:37 interesting. But quarterback A.J. Veloz’s last-gasp attempt from the 14-yard line fell incomplete as time ran out.

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