Lincoln-Way West’s (LWW) young football season got off to a cracking start.
The Warriors traveled to Blue Island to take on Eisenhower for the first time in school history and came home with a dominant 40-7 win on Aug. 30.
“I was really impressed, really impressed,” said LWW Coach Luke Lokanc, who along with his grandfather and former Eisenhower coach Al Lokanc, was honored prior to kickoff. “We still have a lot of things to work on, things to clean up, but that’s usually what happens in game one. I’m proud of the proper practice from our scout teams to our starters. There’s always tweaks and mistakes you see at first, but they adjusted with what was coming from the sideline. I was really pleased.”
Quarterback Chase Hetfleisch started on fire, leading the Warriors on a seven-play, 56-yard drive ending in a touchdown pass to Chase Markowicz. He never let up, throwing for four touchdowns on 12-of-20 passing for 209 yards.
The rushing attack was paced by Jahan Abubakar’s 123 yards on 16 carries.
After a 42-yard field goal by Zach Hermanson made it 10-0, Jahan Abubakar scored from 10 yards out to give the Warriors a 17-0 lead they’d carry into the half.
LWW scored on all three of its second-half possessions.
“The big thing is, as it always is, hold on to the ball,” said Lokanc, whose team is now 1-0. “Not turning over the ball over, taking the ball and taking our chances when we get them.”
Hetfleisch found Quinn Forsythe for a 17-yard touchdown, which culminated a six-play, 59-yard drive for the first of the three second-half touchdowns for the Warriors.
“I think I played well, but it all comes down to how well the whole team plays,” said Forsythe, who added an interception on defense. “I wouldn’t have had half the opportunities if my team didn’t perform the way they did, especially the offensive line on the touchdown.”
Austin Rowswell was the recipient of a 46-yard strike from Hetfleisch to add to the tally.
DeAndre Coates rounded out the scoring for the Warriors on a 26-yard touchdown reception.
“We’ve been training physically and mentally for this game for months,” said Coates, who had a monster game, catching six balls for 103 yards. “Even though we went up against a force that doesn’t stop me from being who I am. We need to be crack-hearted, you know, going full speed. When I did go full speed, I was cracking.”
Meanwhile, the defense was equally impressive, forcing two turnovers and six Eisenhower punts. The Warriors allowed just three first downs and 112 yards of total offense in a dominant performance.
“You got to take that momentum that you have and run with it, and don’t let anything stop you from using that momentum,” said Forsythe. “The defensive line had pressure on the quarterback all night and it was something very important to our success. I think that our team playing the way that they did was extraordinarily impactful.”
