By Randy Whalen

After the game, George Czart could still smile.

The veteran Lockport Township football coach was disappointed, but he also knew his squad once again gave every ounce it could before falling in an epic game between two evenly-matched teams. 

In the end, Lincoln-Way West executed a perfect 2-point conversion play and outlasted the Porters, 40-39 in double overtime on Friday, October 18 in a memorable Southwest Valley Conference crossover at Lockport. 

With the tough win, the Warriors (5-3) will qualify for the playoffs for the 13th time in their young existence. They first became a program in 2009. 

Lockport (3-5) has to win its final game and hopes to be a playoff qualifier with four wins. That used not to happen, but did last season and is projected to perhaps again. 

"I told our guys that this team (the Warriors) are just like us," Czart said. "Of course, I'm disappointed. It is frustrating to see how hard we worked to fall just short."   

Yes, it was and it's the second one-point loss this season. The Porters also fell to Wheaton North (4-4) 22-21 at home in the second week of the season when the Falcons were successful on a 2-point conversion following a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

"Once again we let our own mistakes take the best of us," Lockport senior running back Tyler Pospisil said. "Our defense performed well for the most part but unfortunately, it came down to one play for them on that 2-point conversion."

Yes, it did and the Warriors executed it.

Chase Hetfleisch hit fellow senior Austin Rowswell with the 2-point conversion pass that proved to be the game-winning play.

"It's the connection we have, "Rowswell said of him and Hetfleisch hooking up for the winning pass. "I've told him in practice, if it comes down to it, throw it to me. Trust me and throw the ball to me."

That's what Hetfleisch did as he fired a perfect pass to the left side and Rowswell had his man beat on the outside for the game-winning score. Hetfleisch finished 21-of-37 for 266 yards. 

"What a game," Lincoln-Way West coach Luke Lokanc said. "I think 99 percent of the coaches in the state would go for two in that situation, down one and on the road. We have a bunch of great kids and multisport athletes. 

"We knew the game was going to be like this."

With the full moon rising in the east as the game went on, there were more twists and turns than a Halloween thriller. 

The game nearly ended in regulation but Lincoln-Way West kicker Zach Hermanson was just short on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 20.9 seconds to play.

Lincoln-Way West got the ball first and was going for it on fourth-and-goal from the one in overtime. But there was an illegal procedure penalty so the Warriors tried a field goal and the junior booted a 23-yard field goal to give them a 32-29 lead. 

A Lockport touchdown would have won it. But two runs went for negative one yard and following an incomplete pass senior Gavin Monreal answered with a 28-yard field goal of his own to tie it at 32.

In the second overtime, Pospisil (21 carries for 135 yards) plowed in from 2 yards out as the Porters had the ball first and went ahead 39-32. But Hetfleisch kept the ball himself on first down and fought his way into the endzone on a 10-yard TD run. He knew there was no doubt what was coming next.

"We had it planned out," Hetfleisch said, "We had that (his run) drawn up and we knew it would work. Then we had to go with what was working for us on the 2-point conversion. We had to do it to get this family in (the playoffs). 

"This reminded me of last year's game (a 28-21 Warriors win in overtime) at Lincoln-Way Central. We all had each other's backs."

The loss set Lockport back.

"That's what we expected, I called a time out and said to the team to be ready, they're going for two," Czart said. "We had to stop it but it was a nice play."

Quarterback Brendan Mecher got the Porters on the board with a 25-yard pass to fellow junior Adam Kozak to open the scoring in the first quarter. The extra point was blocked by senior Ryan Stiglic, who had a great game for the Warriors. 

The Porters extended the lead when Kozak fired a 54-yard TD pass to Mecher on a flea-flicker to cap a 99-yard drive. The 2-point conversion run was stopped but with 11:22 left in the second quarter, Lockport led 12-0.

"I think we played well, Mecher said. "We still left some points out on the field that would have helped, but overall we just need to fix the little things and bring it all together, in order to get back on track to win our last game of the regular season. The pass from Adam was an awesome moment, from playing wide receiver (the first half of the season) and switching back over to quarterback. To catch a receiving touchdown was surreal."

Hetfleisch had a quarterback keeper from a yard out with 10:08 left in the second quarter to get the Warriors on the board and make it 12-7. Then Stiglic recovered a bad snap in the end zone for a TD and the 2-point conversion was good with 3:31 left in the second quarter, Lincoln-Way West led 15-12. That stood up as the halftime score.

The fireworks continued to open the third quarter. Staglic returned the kickoff 40 yards. Then Hetfleisch hit junior Chase Markowicz with a 47-yard pass on third-and-10. On the next play, junior Jimmy Talley, Jr. scored from 2 yards out and the Warriors led 22-12. 

But Kozak came right back and returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. It was his third kickoff return for a touchdown this season and made the score 22-19 just 51 seconds into the second half.

"Our special teams were not on point during the game but Gavin Monreal did have a saving field goal in overtime," Pospisil said. "Kozak's kick return was crucial to swing some momentum in our direction."

Following a bad snap and a recovery by junior free safety Colton Benaitis, who added an interception late in regulation, Monreal made a 22-yard field goal to tie it at 22-22.

After an exchange of punts, Hetfleisch had a pair of passes totaling 49 yards and Talley took it in again from a yard out to put Lincoln-Way West back on top at 29-22 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

But senior linebacker John Sherrod recovered a fumble, which was forced by senior defensive end Ahmad Abusafieh (sack, 6 tackles, 2 for loss) at the Warrior 11 early in the fourth quarter. Then on fourth-and-six, Mecher hit Kozak with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 29-29 with 8:19 to play in regulation.  

That set the stage for the overtime.

"I'm just so proud of the kids and how they picked each other up," Lokanc said. "We have a really good team and it was just a proud moment."

It was the first time that Lincoln-Way West had beaten the Porters in the team's four meetings.

"As much as this game seems like it was rough for us, it shows what we can do and that we can be a contender in (Class 7A)," Rowswell said. "This was for the playoffs and we knew that we had to punch our ticket."

Conley Pfeiffer, who started the first half of the season at quarterback for the Porters, returned from an injury that kept him out two weeks to punt. Fellow senior, Brian Kwiatkowski, who plays defensive line, had a big sack in the final minute of regulation, which forced Hermanson into a longer field goal attempt. 

The last time Lockport played a double overtime game was in the regular season finale in 2022, a 28-27 loss at Andrew when the Porters missed a 2-point conversion pass at the end of the second overtime.  

Now they have to put this behind them in order to have an opportunity to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season.

"This week is about persistence and determination to win." Pospisil said. "We need to get rid of all distractions and really understand this could be our last time ever playing high school football again—no time off pedal to the metal at all times."

By Randy Whalen

The calendar says it's Week No. 8 of the high school football season.

The mentality of the Lockport Township football team is that it's the first week of playoffs. 

With the Porters sitting at 3-4 overall that's what it has to be. They have to win the last two games to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season. However, their opponent in a Southwest Valley crossover this week, Lincoln-Way West, is 4-3 and knows that a victory will put it in the playoffs for the second straight season and 13th time since starting a program at the school in 2009. 

"Lincoln-Way West is playing to get in the playoffs too," Lockport coach George Czart said. "But they have begun for us. Every game is a must-win. We're not going to put pressure on the kids but they know we have to win to ease the pain."

Lockport's schedule has been among the toughest in the state and includeds three straight losses to teams with a combined record of 19-2. The Porters' last two opponents, undefeated Naperville Central and Lincoln-Way East are the top two ranked teams in the latest AP Class 8A poll.

"I'm not complaining about the schedule," Czart said. "The team is aware of the situation and I like it. We just have to do things better."

Last week, Lockport lost 47-14 at top-ranked Lincoln-Way East. While the score was lopsided, the Porters competed.

"I thought we did about as good as we could considering the field position they were having," Czart said of the game against the Griffins. "They were always in good field position and they're solid everywhere. They have speed and quickness and I just don't see them having a bad game."

After losing back-to-back games to Naperville Central (14-7) and Naperville North (38-33), the Warriors hosted Champaign Centennial (4-3) last week and won 64-0. 

The Lincoln-Way West award winners from that game were senior quarterback Chase Hetfleisch and junior running back Jackson O’Connor on offense. Junior linebacker Kyle Korpitz and junior defensive lineman Gavin Larson were the keys on defense, junior kicker/punter Zach Hermanson won the award on special teams, and junior defensive lineman Ryan Woods won the team effort award. 

Last season, the Warriors finished 9-3 and advanced to the Class 7A quarterfinals. They expected another good season this year and know this is a key game as they host Bradley-Bourbonnais, which will likely be 7-1, in the final regular season game. 

"Lincoln-Way West is a good team," Czart said. "They're another team that can run and pass the ball. They do both and do them equally. We have to be ready to stop the run but they have a good quarterback too."

With injuries in key positions, the Porters have had guys step up in key roles. Take junior quarterback Brendan Mecher. In just nine quarters of play, he's 36-of-66 for 539 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Adam's, that's junior Adam Kozak and senior Adam Gieser, have combined for nearly 500 receiving yards this season.

Senior Tyler Pospisil has stepped in at running back and has nearly 500 yards and nine touchdowns. Lockport's offensive production has been balanced with 1.055 yards rushing and 1,034 yards passing through the first seven games.

If history is an indicator, it's good for Lockport. This is the 16th season that Lincoln-Way West has been a varsity program and it will be only the fourth time it has played the Porters. Lockport won the other three, 14-7 at home in 2016, 21-13 at home in 2021, and 34-28 in New Lenox in 2022. The Porters made the playoffs in each one of those seasons and won the Class 8A title in 2021.

After being the head coach at Lincoln-Way North for the eight years it was open (between 2008-16), Czart was the linebackers coach at Lincoln-Way West between 2016-18. He then got the head coaching job at Lockport in 2019 but he is very familiar with how the Warriors operate and what a good program they have as they have qualified for the postseason 12 times in their short history and placed second in Class 5A in 2015. 

This is the final regular season home game and is a 6 PM start. The Porters won their first home game of the season and would love to win the last.

"Absolutely, we like playing at home, with the familiarity and all that stuff," Czart said. "But no matter where we play one thing I don't have to worry about is us coming out and playing physical."

By Randy Whalen

There's no quit in the Lockport Township football team.

Yes, the Porters lost 47-14 to top-ranked Lincoln-Way East this past Friday, October 11 in a Southwest Valley Conference Blue Division matchup in Frankfort.

Jonas Williams threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns as the Griffins (7-0, 4-0) clinched the Southwest Valley Blue title on their Senior Night. It's their 16th conference championship since the fall of 2005 and they have qualified for the playoffs every season since becoming their own school in the fall of 2001. Lockport (3-4, 1-2) lost its third straight game and will have to win out to make the postseason for a fourth consecutive season. 

But there were good things to take from the game for the Porters. They held Lincoln-Way East to a season-low in points scored. Yes, that's how good the Griffins are, that they scored 48 or 49 points in their other played games (they also have a Week No. 2 forfeit win). 

Plus, the 14 points were the most the Porters scored against Lincoln-Way East since a 28-25 home loss on September 19, 2014. 

Lockport also limited Williams to 18-of-30 passing (60 percent) and sacked the junior, who has verbally committed to the University of Oregon, four times. The Porters defense also had a pair of goalline stands. On offense, they opened the second half with a 74-yard, 11-play touchdown drive. In the fourth quarter, Adam Kozak returned a kickoff 94 yards for a TD.

"That's what we wanted to do, compete and we did," Lockport coach George Czart said. "Lincoln-Way East is the best team we've seen."

The Griffins showed that with an onslaught of 23 first quarter points. Senior running back Zion Gist started things with a 7-yard touchdown run to cap the game's opening drive. But the Lockport defense held on a fourth-and-goal situation from the one by forcing an incomplete pass on the next possession.

However, Lockport was immediately tackled in the end zone on its ensuing play from scrimmage for a safety. Sophomore middle linebacker Colton Zvonar got credit for the tackle. Following a good return on the kickoff, Williams connected with Gist on a screen pass that went for a 40-yard TD and it was 16-0 with 3:40 left in the first quarter. 

Following an interception and 22-yard return by Brayden Mortell, Williams completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Talan White with just over a minute left in the first quarter for a 23-0 lead.

The Porters' defense forced a punt midway through the second quarter but couldn't get anything going on offense and punted back to Lincoln-Way East. Williams then fired a 27-yard TD pass to senior tight end Trey Zvonar with 4:52 left in the first half. 

Junior quarterback Brendan Mecher had a highlight play for Lockport as he took off on a 53-yard jaunt down to the Griffin 14. But on second-and-four from the nine, he was sacked and fumbled. Senior defensive tackle Michael Jemilo recovered for Lincoln-Way East. That led to a long drive which culminated on a 22-yard field goal to end the half by junior Grant Urban to make it 33-0.

Despite the score, the Porters had pressure on Williams. The four sacks were all in the first half and were by senior linebacker Joe Borowski, senior defensive end Ahmad Abusafieh, junior defensive end Dewatha Malone, and senior linebacker John Sherrod. 

"We knew coming in that they're a great team and No. 1 in the state," Sherrod said. "We just had to come out and work our butts off. If something bad happens, we have to have the memory of a goldfish and wipe it away.

"With Williams, we know he's a great athlete, a big guy, and has playmakers to throw it to. We just had to have that mentality to get after it. Now we know that we have to win out. This week we have to keep our head in the film and trust the training."

Lockport had a nice drive to start the third quarter, going 74 yards in 11 plays. Mecher was 4-for-6 for 42 yards on the march and senior running back Tyler Pospisil (8 carries for 27 yards) had a long run that was called back for holding. But he still got credit for 20 yards and a first down on the play. 

Rayden Cherco, a junior who finished with seven carries for 18 yards, plowed in from a yard out to cap the drive. Senior Gavin Monreal added the extra point kick and it was 33-7 with 7:28 left in the third quarter. Mecher finished 9-of-19 for 76 yards. 

The Porter defense held on the next possession and forced a punt. But they were pinned deep in their own territory and senior defensive end Caden O'Rourke, who was everywhere and had a couple of sacks, scooped up a fumble and scored with 5:06 left in the third quarter. 

Williams had a highlight reel play late in the third quarter when he scrambled to his right, outran three defenders, and fired a 24-yard pass to Gist on the run. The Porter, however, held Lincoln-Way East on a fourth-and-two play at the four. But Williams came back and made it 47-7 when he tossed his fourth TD pass, a 26-yard one to senior Keagan Ruane-Martino with 10:35 to play in the game. 

But Kozak returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for an electrifying touchdown. with 10:23 left to play to provide a Porter highlight and account for the final score with 10:23 remaining. 

It was the second kickoff return for Kozak this season. He had a 97-yard one in a 41-14 Week No. 3 win at Neuqua Valley.

"When we block it right, we can get it to go," Czart said of the kickoff return.

Kozak, a junior who has been the leading receiver for the Porters and had four receptions for 32 yards in the game, thought so too.

"It felt amazing," he said of the touchdown kickoff return. "I knew the hole opened in front of me and I just followed my blockers. 

"We played as a team and as hard as we could. We played our ass off and I was out there just trying to boost my team. We have a tough team too and we didn't put our heads down all game. Now we just have to practice harder and come out with energy (against Lincoln-Way West). 

The final regular season home game is this Friday when Lincoln-Way West (4-3) comes to town for a 6M kickoff. If the Warriors win, they are playoff-eligible. So the Porters have to be ready and play for their own postseason rights. 

"That's what I told them, the playoffs start now and we've got to win both of our remaining games," Czart said. "But I also told them that we are a good team. The kids played hard and battled the No. 1 and No. 2 (undefeated Naperville Central) teams the past two weeks and I'm proud of them."
 

By Randy Whalen

If fans are looking for a positive sign for the Lockport Township football team as the Porters head to Frankfort for a matchup with the top team in the state this week, here's one. 

Lockport is undefeated playing against Jonas Williams.

However, those wins came when Williams was the quarterback at Bolingbrook. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior, who has already verbally committed to the University of Oregon, is now quarterback for Lincoln-Way East. 

He's got the Griffins offense clicking. They are 6-0 and 3-0 in the Southwest Valley Conference. A win over Lockport (3-3, 1-1) will clinch their 16th conference title since the SouthWest Suburban Conference formed in the fall of 2005. 

"Absolutely we know what he brings but good he's also surrounded by good players," Lockport coach George Czart said. "They all have a good skill set and will be a challenge for us. But we're going to show up and make it as difficult as possible for them to do what they do."

How good is Williams? He threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns in his Lincoln-Way East debut, a 49-22 win over Maine South on August 30 in Frankfort. In a 48-7 win over visiting Homewood-Flossmoor on September 27, he completed 21 of 25 passes for 305 yards and six TDs. Last week the Griffins jumped out to a 48-0 halftime lead in a 48-14 win at Neuqua Valley. 

They have 244 points scored this season, and that includes a 1-0 forfeit win in the second week. In its five played games, Lincoln-Way East has scored 49 points three times and 48 points twice.

As a sophomore, Williams threw for 3,196 yards and 33 TDs at Bolingbrook while dealing with injuries. He was also the varsity starter as a freshman there and passed for 2,737 yards and 37 touchdowns.

But he doesn't do it alone. Senior running back Zion Gist, a Western Michigan recruit, just returned from a Week 1 injury. But junior running back Brody Gish came in and ran for 171 yards and three TDs against Maine South. Senior tight end Trey Zvonar, the son of coach Rob Zvoar, is a Miami of Ohio recruit. 

Seniors Caden O'Rourke, a Northwestern recruit, at defensive end, and Dylan Weathers at defensive back, have been key players on a defense that has only allowed 63 points. 

Since 2017, the Griffins have gone 87-6 (through last week), including winning undefeated Class 8A state titles in 2017 and 2019 and finishing second the past two seasons. They have made the postseason every season since being their own school in 2001, have a current record of 238-44, have captured three Class 8A State Championships (2005, 2017, 2019), and finished second three times (2012 in Class 7A, 2022 and 2023 in Class 8A). 

The Lincoln-Way East winning percentage is .844, easily the best in state history with teams that have played 250 games or more. That includes a .875 winning percentage (21-3) over the Porters with a 20-game winning streak, which started with a 14-6 victory in the opening round of the 2004 Class 8A playoffs. The Griffins handed Lockport its only loss in the 2021 Class 8A championship season, winning 12-10 on Oct. 15 in Lockport.

"They have a solid core of people that want to do well in football," Czart said of the Griffins, "They have a leader in (Rob) Zvonar. From the feeder programs on down, they buy into what he has built. 

"They have good athletes, good coaches, good discipline. They have everything. You see it in the product that they have."

A big key for the Porters will be holding onto the ball. They had four turnovers in last week's 31-21 loss to Naperville Central. But they also hit hard on defense all night, had a pair of interceptions, including a pick-6 from junior free safety Colton Benaitis, and had junior quarterback Brendan Mecher step up in his first varsity start and throw for 357 yards. 

Both senior Adam Gieser and junior Adam Kozak had over 100 yards receiving.

"I don't know the last time that happened," Czart said of having a Lockport quarterback throw for 357 yards. "We played hard against Naperville Central and I'm expecting that again this week. 

"We're resilient but not resilient enough to overcome four turnovers. Our mistakes have been unfortunate. We've been the beneficiaries of turnovers in the past. but not laterly. Now other teams are benefitting from ours. "

Lockport has scored first in every game this season and has at least 20 points in each game. The Porters know they will have to score a lot to win this week.

The sophomore game is slated to start at 4:30 with the varsity to follow at 7 PM.

The Griffins have already clinched a playoff berth. Lockport has to win two of its last three games to qualify for the fourth straight season  So how do the Porters approach this game?

"We are starting with a tough matchup," Lockport senior center Keiland Vasvery said. "But my teammates and I think about it as, 'What an opportunity against a great team.' Our record doesn't show how good we are. If we clean up our mistakes, we can be pretty hard to beat."
 

By Randy Whalen

Going against an undefeated team this past Friday, the Lockport Township football team knew it would be a tough game.

It literally was a there were numerous hard hits throughout the evening. There were positives to take out of the game as Brendan Mecher stepped up in his first varsity start and threw for 357 yards. 

Fellow junior Colton Benaitis continues to make big plays as a free safety on defense with two interceptions, including a pick-6. Plus, he was also in at wide receiver and had a catch for 14 yards as the Porters aired the ball out.

But overall too many mistakes cost the Porters as they fell for the second straight week, 31-21 on Friday evening, October 4 in a physical Southwest Valley crossover in Lockport. 

With the win, Naperville Central (6-0) clinches a playoff berth for the fourth straight season, the ninth time since winning the Class 8A title in 2013 and the 31st time since 1986. The Porters (3-3), who won the 8A title in 2021, will have to be victorious in two of their last three games to make the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

"Our kids played hard and tough," Lockport coach George Czart said. "But when our offense is struggling, you have to play perfect defense. But we were going against a quality opponent and they're going to make plays. But absolutely, mistakes hurt us."

Benaitis agreed.

"Going into the game we knew it would be a war, and it wasn't going to be easy," Benaitis said. "I can confidently say we gave it our all on the physical side of things. Now, to touch on the mental aspect, everybody was ready to play that game we were dialed in each and every player on our team could’ve stepped onto the field and gave it their all. 

"But, the mental mistakes are hurting us big time. We will continue to better ourselves and eliminate those mistakes. We play as a team and we make mistakes as a team. The loss is never on one player, one coach. We lost the game as a team and to come back better next week and the following weeks we will be doing everything in our power to do the best we can."

Naperville Central, however, is undefeated for a reason. The Redhawks came in with some injuries of their own. So quarterback Sebastian Hayes knew he had to step up with starting senior running back Aidan Clark out with a knee injury. 

That's exactly what the senior did as he threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another.

"We knew that we'd be passing a lot more since Aidan was out," Hayes said. "A lot of guys stepped up and we got a big W."

Hayes finished 18-34 for 211 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. Both of his touchdown tosses were to senior DeShaun Williams, who had 10 catches for 121 yards. He hauled in a 28-yard TD reception with 3:34 left in the first half to give the Redhawks the lead for good at 21-14.

"It's huge and it feels really good after not playing the past two years," said Hays, who had a pair of ACL surgeries his sophomore and junior seasons. "I felt a lot more comfortable out there than I did at the beginning of the year.

"We knew that Lockport was going to be a big, physical team, and to get that score before halftime was huge."

It was as the Porters were their own worst enemy at times. They turned the ball over four times, three of those in the first half. They also had a punt travel negative 5 yards and failed to score on three fourth quarter drives within the Naperville Central 12. 

Lockport took the lead by scoring the opening touchdown for the sixth straight game. Mecher started in place of senior Conley Pfeiffer, who went out with an injured shoulder the previous week. The junior finished an impressive 20-of-32 for 357 yards and his first pass of the game on the Porters' second play from scrimmage, was a 68-yard TD strike to fellow junior Adam Kozak (4 receptions for 128 yards). 

"We started out quick and had some chances to really put the pressure on them and couldn’t make it happen," Mecher said. "They are a really good, physical team. We knew we had to play a great game to beat them. Turnovers and penalties hurt us again, so we really need to clean up some of the small things and get ready for (Lincoln-Way) East. 

"Yes, it was exciting to get my first start. Unfortunately, Conley went out with an injury, but I feel like I was ready to step up and make the most of the opportunity. Offensively we had a good game but stalled out a few times inside the 20."

The Porters forced a punt and looked to add to the lead. But a fumbled exchange was scooped up by senior defensive end Jake Stanish who returned 10 yards for a touchdown. That tied the game at 7-7 with 7:20 left in the first quarter.

"I saw it and knew I needed to jump on it," Stanish said of the fumble. "It's my first touchdown and I still don't believe that I scored. It was just crazy."

Stanish was all over on defense. While the Redhawks gave up a lot of yards, they also made a lot of key defensive plays, including an interception by junior defensive back Gavin Ellison, who doubles as the kicker. Stanish, who has committed to the University at Buffalo, sacked Mecher at the Naperville Central 10 on fourth down with 3:46 to play in the game. 

The Porters had a first-and-goal situation at the three on that drive and couldn't score.

"Their quarterback was very good," Stanish said of Mecher. "But we're 6-0 and that's because we're brothers. We all play for each other and it's the connection we have."

Tyler Pospisil plowed in from 2 yards out with 3:55 left in the first quarter to give Lockport a 14-7 lead. The senior running back finished with 14 carries for 55 yards and added four receptions for 42 yards. But the Redhawks tied the game when Hayes hammered in from a yard out on a fourth-and-goal play with 9:49 left in the first half.

Ellison, who missed a pair of field goals, added a 26-yard field goal on Naperville Central's first possession of the second half. Hayes hit Williams on a 21-yard TD with 7:31 to play in the game for a 31-14 lead. 

Benaitis capped the scoring when he returned his second interception 25 yards for a touchdown with 3:20 to play in the game.

"After watching film all week and putting plenty of hours in I knew the slot receiver could only run a select few routes," Benaitis said of the pick-6. "At the time we were playing a man coverage, as the receiver approached me I trusted my training and did everything I am taught to do.

"Once the ball was in the air I went and made a play which is what it all simplifies down to. 'Making a play.' Although it stings and we all hate losing this will not affect us and we will come out next week as hard as we would if we won the game."

Senior linebacker John Sherrod recovered a fumble near midfield with 2:25 to play in the game to give the Porters some life. But they missed a field goal with 1:11 left and Naperville Central ran out the clock.

Adam Gieser had six receptions for 125 yards. Fellow senior wide receiver Izeyah Pruitt had three for 31, while junior tight end Mason Moore contributed a pair of catches for 17 yards.

"My receivers did a great job of getting open and finding open spots when I was being pressured," Mecher said. "Adam, Adam, and Izeyah were great. And having Colton on offense is a nice option to have."

Lockport was 3-3 last year and finished 5-4 in the regular season to get into the postseason. Now at 3-3 again this fall the math is simple if the Porters want to be there again.

"Now we've got to win two out of three to get in the playoffs," Czart said. "So we're going to accept the challenge and be ready for Lincoln-Way East on Friday."

By Randy Whalen

When asked if he had seen the game story from last week's loss to Naperville North, which featured a Bob Segar song reference, Lockport Township football coach George Czart guessed that the song was "Turn The Page."

No, last week was "Against The Wind." But coming off a 31-20 loss to Naperville North, "Turn The Page" is exactly what the Porters have to do this week.

Especially since this matchup isn't any easier as another Naperville team comes to town. Naperville Central is undefeated (5-0) and tied for first place with Sandburg in the Red Division of the Southwest Valley Conference.

"Of course, we're going in with the intent to win the game," Czart said. "But we have to be on our best behavior and make plays. Naperville Central is more of a running team that can pass. They do what a good football team does."

Last week, that was playing defense. The Redhawks toppled visiting Lincoln-Way West 14-7 and have now opened the season with five straight wins for the first time since 2017. 

All of the scoring was done in the first half. Senior quarterback Sebastian Hayes hammered in from a yard out to tie the game at 7-7. Then Hayes had a TD pass to fellow senior Garrett Nichols, who also stars on defense and special teams. The Redhawks defense has been very good, allowing 62 points this season, including just seven in each of their last two games.

Seniors Aaron Nussbaum, at linebacker, and Jake Stanish, at defensive end, are two of the defensive leaders.

Last week Lockport's defense shutout Naperville North in the first half and led 6-0. But bad field position and playing against the wind in the third quarter did the Porters in. 

So did a lack of fortitude, penalties, and mistakes. 

"We just lost a battle of toughness," Lockport senior running back Tyler Pospisil said. "We were our own worst enemy that entire game and I think for sure a few on the team let the adversity get to their head. We should have taken advantage of many opportunities on offense but we just could not convert."

That included a 59-yard TD run by Pospisil in the first quarter that was called back because of holding. 

"Someone said we had 13 penalties," Czart said. "We have to be more disciplined. "I thought our defense played about as well as we could in the first half. Then, in the third quarter, we tried to get through the quarter quickly but we were punting against the wind."

Pospisil agreed.

"I think our worst point in the game was definitely the third quarter," he said. "I don't think we converted one first down that entire time (the Porters had one midway through the quarter) and every time we decided to punt it didn't go farther than 20 yards. I know the wind played a factor but we cannot afford to put our defense in that position every time.

We must have a good, hard-working, focused week of practice to get after this 5-0 Naperville Central team. I'm looking forward to getting after it."

After adding a pair of touchdowns last Friday, Pospisil now has eight TDs and nearly 400 yards rushing on the season. He's stepped in for Johnny Wesolowski, who was injured in the second game. Now, it looks like starting senior quarterback Conley Pfeiffer could miss time after injuring his shoulder late in the Naperville North game.

"Conley got banged up," Czart said. " But Brendan Mecher is very exciting to watch. He's a great athlete and can do special things with the ball in his hands."

Mecher, who has nine receptions for 221 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a receiver, stepped in at quarterback in the fourth quarter last week. He finished with 106 yards passing and tossed a 21-yard TD to fellow junior Adam Kozak.  

There was some good news on the injury front last week. Connor Cronin, a senior offensive lineman and returning starter from last year who has been out to start the season returned to play some last week.

"I never look at our injuries as why we didn't do X, Y, or Z," Czart said. "We've got 80 guys and many good kids on the team.

"The bottom line is we have to do a better job managing the game."

By Randy Whalen

With apologies to Bob Seger, his famous song may have come into Lockport Township football fans' heads during the third quarter this past Friday night. 

"Against the Wind"

Except the lyrics now went something like this.

"Against the wind, 

The Porters running' and passing game couldn't get going against the wind.

Naperville North got its offense in gear but the Porters were still running' against the wind."

Yes, the wind picked up in the third quarter and the Huskies had it at their backs. After being shut out in the first half, Naperville North took advantage and got a big win.

Jacob Bell threw for three touchdowns, including a pair to open the third quarter, and Aiden Drendel added a pick-six. The big plays, especially with the third quarter wind led to a 31-20 Naperville North victory over the host Porters before a large Homecoming crowd in a Southwest Valley clash on Friday evening, September 27 in Lockport. 

It was a huge game as both teams are now 3-2 and 1-1 in the Southwest Valley Blue as the season enters the second half.

"The wind played a big factor," said Bell, who has committed to Ball State. "It was fun when we had it there in the third quarter. We knew our defense had to step up to start and then we had to take advantage and score."

Lockport's defense had three fourth-down stops in the first half and led 6-0 at halftime, but the offense went three-and-out to start the third quarter. A short punt led to the Huskies getting the ball at the Lockport 33 and two plays later Bell found fellow senior Quinn Morris for a 22-yard touchdown. Senior Tyler Duewel added the extra point and Naperville North took the lead for good with 10:17 left in the third quarter.

After another three-and-out, the Huskies got the ball back at the Lockport 29. The Porter defense seemed to hold, forcing a field goal, which was converted. But Lockport was whistled for a strange penalty of trying to draw the opponent offside, giving Naperville North a first-and-goal. Two plays later Bell fired a 7-yard TD pass to junior tight end Finnian Bretag for a 14-6 lead with 7:30 left in the third.

Duewel deposited a 38-yard field goal on the next Huskie possession and it was 17-6. In the meantime, Lockport had four third quarter possessions and got one first down.

"We played about as well as we could on defense," Lockport coach George Czart said. "But we couldn't go three-and-out to start the third quarter and give them the wind like we did. They took advantage of it. 

"Then we didn't have good punts and gave them good field position. "Then we can't be making penalties like we did."

Drendel returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown with 8:26 left in the game to give the Huskies a 24-7 lead. It was one of three interceptions by Naperville North. Senior Edward Mumford and junior Quincy Blaise added the other ones. 

"No, I've never had a pick-six, it felt amazing," Drendel said. "I just saw the ball, it was a little wobbly, and I grabbed it and started running down the sideline for the touchdown. 

"That was also my first varsity interception and I'm just happy I took it to the house. The Porters fought hard but we knew that was the clincher. It was a huge win for us and we needed it."

Lockport starting quarterback Conley Pfeiffer left the game with a shoulder injury following the interception. That was the second time he was knocked from the game in the quarter but he returned after the first one.

Pfeiffer finished 4-for-14 for 38 yards and had two interceptions.

"I would say from an offensive point of view we can agree we didn't play good enough," Pfeiffer said. "The defense played an amazing first half, and we just put them in some rough positions in the second half.

"As an offense, we just have to continue to work hard throughout the week to bounce back. We just need to work hard to put together a full game of offense coming up especially because the rest of the schedule is going to be pretty tough."

Two days later, Pfeiffer wasn't sure of his status for this week's clash with Naperville Central.

"I'm still just feeling out the shoulder," he said. "We'll see where I'm at by the start of the week of practice."

Junior Brandan Mecher took over and threw a 21-yard TD pass to junior Adam Kozak with 4:43 to play and a two-point conversion run by Tyler Pospisil made it 24-14. Seeing his first action at quarterback this season, Mecher finished 7-of-14 for 106 yards with an interception and his first varsity TD pass. 

But Bell fired his third touchdown pass, a four-yard one to senior Chico Thomas, with 3:36 to play. Bell finished 27-of-47 for 212 yards with an interception and three TDs.

"I have great receivers," Bell said. "Last season we had a great running back in Cole Arl. But this season we got two transfers and had a lot of returners. So I knew I had to step up and be big. With this conference, there are no off weeks."

Pospisil scored his second touchdown, a five-yard run, with 2:18 to play. The senior running back, who finished with 25 carries for 94 yards, opened the scoring when he plowed in from a yard out with 2:20 left in the first half. He also had a 59-yard TD run called back because of holding midway through the first quarter.

Senior Anthony Polselli had an interception for the Porters in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and the entire front line blocked a punt in the final minute of the game. It was the first meeting between the two teams since Lockport won 24-21 in a Class 8A second-round playoff game in 2002. The Porters went on to win the state championship.

"We took advantage of the wind and made things happen," Naperville North Sean Drendel said. "Jacob Bell is outstanding for us. I'm very proud of the kids. We handled some adversity, did a nice job and it's a big win."

While the score doesn't indicate a good defensive game by the Porters, it was. Naperville North was limited to 276 total yards. But the Huskies took advantage of the wind and got the win.

"We played strong the entire game," Lockport senior defensive end Kevin Hippner said. "We shut them out first half and we came into the game well prepared. The second half we faced adversity with the field position and the wind. 

"Our D line could have gotten more pressure, Dereon (senior defensive lineman Dereon Simpson) and I each had a sack. Once again, we stopped the run in the beginning of the game, but as we progressed to a three-man front they began to run the ball more. Overall, our defense as a whole played a strong game."

The Porters will have to play another strong game this week as undefeated Naperville Central comes to town for a Southwest Valley crossover on Friday at 6 PM.

By Randy Whalen

Last week the Lockport Township football team won at Waubonsie Valley to ruin the Warriors Homecoming.

This week the Porters don't want Naperville North to ruin theirs.

It's homecoming this week at Lockport, which is always special. But it's also a huge game in the Blue Division of the Southwest Valley Conference. Lockport (3-1, 1-0) won its first league game while the Huskies (2-2, 0-1) lost theirs.

"We try to keep the focus on what we want to do as far as football," Lockport football coach George Czart said. "We don't want to deaden the Homecoming experience but we want them to focus on football."

Yes, they do and the recent history of the Porters Homecoming games isn't good. They had blowout losses to Sandburg two years ago and Lincoln-Way East last season. So focus is key, especially since Naperville North is very talented.

"They're another good team," Czart said of the Huskies. "They have weapons on the outside, a good quarterback, good receivers, a well-diversified offense. We're going to have to control the ball and keep it away from their offense.

"Just like us, they've had tough games against quality opponents."

Naperville North has won its two away games, 42-14 in the opener at New Trier and a wild one in the third week, a 21-20 victory at Lincoln-Way Central. But the Huskies lost 24-21 to crosstown rival Naperville Central, 24-21 at North Central College in Week No. 2 and then saw Lincoln-Way East score the final four touchdowns and win 49-17 last week in Naperville.

Quarterback Jacob Bell has been outstanding for the Huskies. He has fellow seniors Nick Manzardo, Brock Pettaway, and Chico Thomas as key receivers. Against Lincoln-Way East, senior defensive back Zach Mally had an interception, and senior kicker Tyler Duewel added a field goal. 

"It's hard to run against us," Czart said. "But we know we have to defend the pass. We just have to stick to it and have the mentality that everyone can make a play. It should be another barn burner."

Last week junior free safety Colton Benaitis made a big interception. That led to a 93-yard touchdown pass from senior Conley Pfeiffer to junior Brendan Mecher late in the third quarter to put the Porters ahead for good. It was the second time that the pair connected for a TD in the game. 

Pfeiffer finished 10-of-20 for 168 yards and his pair of touchdown passes were his first two of the season. On the receiving end of both of those, Mecher had four receptions for 124 yards.

"We have some guys that can make big plays," Czart said. "Anytime Brendan Mecher or (junior) Adam Kozak gets the ball in their hands, it could be a big play."

Filling in as the starting running back the past two weeks, senior Tyler Pospisil has also made big plays. He scored the clinching TD in the 21-7 win against Waubonsie Valley. He has over 300 yards and six touchdowns so far on the season and it looks like he could carry the load the remainder of the way with the injury news not good for senior Johnny Wesolowski.

"I didn't hear a good report," Czart said of Wesolowski. "We prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We've always been an organization that succeeds with how you deal with adversity and prepare for it."

This is the midway point of the regular season so the push to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season is in full swing.

"We've got to be happy with 3-1," Czart said of the teams' record. "We've gone out and got some victories. I wish we were more healthy but that happens. We've had guys step up and put ourselves in a position to win." 

With Homecoming, a big crowd is expected. It's a varsity-only game with kickoff scheduled for 6 PM. 

"I like the early start," Czart said. "We have two Naperville's, two Lincoln-Way's and H-F left. We've got to be ready."

By Randy Whalen

For all its physicality and wars in the trenches, what usually happens is that the game of football comes down to big plays. 

When it needed them the most, that's exactly what Lockport Township football made this past Friday. 

The offense and defense both came up with huge third quarter plays as the Porters pulled out a 21-7 win, which wasn't always pretty but was efficient, in a Southwest Valley crossover on Friday night, September 20 at Waubonsie Valley.

It was the second straight road victory, and 17th in its last 22 games away from home for Lockport (3-1). It also marks the fourth straight season that the Porters have won their first two road games. The Warriors (2-2) lost their second straight.

"That win for us was huge, we needed that," Lockport junior free safety Colton Benaitis said. "As soon as we stepped off the busses something felt different. The boys were ready. We knew this wouldn't be an easy game and I also think this game opened some eyes and showed what the Porters could do. Overall great win from the team."

Brendan Mecher caught a pair of touchdown passes, including the go-ahead one on a bomb in the third quarter, from fellow senior Conley Pfeiffer. But it was a big play by Benaitis that made that one possible.

Locked in a 7-7 game at halftime, both teams knew a big play was crucial. The Porters punted on their first possession and Waubonsie Valley took over at its own 20. Behind third-string quarterback, senior Dylan Beacom, who completed a pair of passes for 38 yards, the Warriors moved to a first down at the Lockport 24. 

But on second-and-11 from the 25, Beacom had his pass intercepted by Benaitis at the 13.

"On the interception play, I saw that Waubonsie Valley lined up in the formation with three receiving threats," Benaitis said. "All week our defense studied and planned against their defense. Also, throughout the week I studied their film and I knew every route they could possibly run.

"As the play started I immediately got my eyes on the number 3 receiver (senior Jordan Coleman). I was watching the receiver and broke on his route as soon as he broke. I snap my eyes to the ball mid-air, jump up, and grab it out of the air. Shortly after I get tackled by the outside receiver."

But Benaitis had the ball at his own 13. That was his second interception of the season. He also had another one nullified by a penalty and he's also blocked a punt. Benaitis's play shows the importance of preparation."

"It was a huge momentum switch for our team," Benaitis said. "I knew in the moment I had to make that play, I trusted my hands and all the work I put in over the offseason. During the play I didn’t have my gloves on, it felt off but that’s no excuse to drop a ball. 

"David Kundrat and I would go to Flink Field middle of the day or middle of the night and we would work our tails off every single day over the summer. All those reps lead up to what happened on that play. The main reason the play happened is because I trusted my brothers and stuck to the game plan."

A holding call put the Porters in a precarious first-and-16. But Pfeiffer fired downfield to a wide-open Mecher, who caught the ball in his own territory turned on the jets, and completed a 93-yard TD to give Lockport the lead for good.

"At halftime, we were in our own heads," Mecher said. "We just had to stay in control and play our game."

But what did it feel like to grab the pass and then run to an open field?

"Man, that's the best," Mecher said of the long TD catch. "Nothing better than getting a wide-open ball and running to daylight. But the defense was a real big part of it and played pretty awesome."

Waubonsie Valley moved to the Porter 41 but a sack by junior defensive end Dewatha Malone, who had two sacks for the second straight week, forced a punt a minute into the fourth quarter. The Warriors didn't get a first down the rest of the game.

A one-yard TD plunge by Tyler Pospisil with 1:26 to play clinched the win for the Porters. The bruising senior running back, who was starting for the second straight week in place of fellow senior Johnny Wesolowski, finished with 22 carries for 126 yards and the touchdown.

"At halftime, I felt a little disappointed that we didn't do what we were capable of," Pospisil said. "We were struggling to get going but the big passes to Brandan got us going. Then our physical play tired them out."

The Porter's big plays on defense started right away. Senior defensive end Kevin Hippner recovered a fumble at the Warrior 37 on the game's second play. Seven plays later Pfeiffer found Mecher for a 15-yard touchdown in the left corner. 

"I've got to give props to our coaches," Pfeiffer said. "If everyone does their job, we've got a good offense. We talked about it all week, I've got to give the receivers a chance and they went up and got it. This is a big win and now we have some momentum going home."

Pfeiffer finished 10-of-20 for 168 yards and his pair of touchdown passes were his first two of the season. On the receiving end of both of those, Mecher had four receptions for 124 yards. But after his first catch, Lockport was 0-for-3 on fourth down conversions the rest of the half, punted once, and also lost a fumble.

Senior Joshua Siekierski, the starting quarterback for Waubonsie Valley was hurt on the team's fourth offensive play and didn't return. With their second-string quarterback unavailable, the Warriors turned to Beacom, who led a tying touchdown drive by completing a 5-yard TD pass in the right corner to senior Joshua Tinney with 2:48 left in the first half.

Beacom finished 13-of-20 for 110 yards for Waubonsise Valley, which was limited to four yards on the ground. Junior linebacker Andre Labuda had numerous big tackles. So did senior linebacker Payton Roberson, who was also brought in to block and carry the ball in short-yardage situations, finishing with six carries for 28 yards.  

"Dylan came in and as a third-string QB  you don't get a lot of snaps," Waubonsive Valley coach Adam Pucylowski said. "But he did a great job. But our kids played hard. Lockport plays football the right way and is a hard-nosed team."

The Porters are a play away from being 4-0. But they know this was a very big win with the toughest games on the schedule yet to come.

"We had big plays on defense," Lockport coach George Czart said. "We didn't play perfect but we played well and got a win."

By Randy Whalen

All hands on deck.

With some key people out in the game at Neuqua Valley, that was exactly what the Lockport Township football team had last week. 

The result? The Porters rebounded from their previous week's loss with a resounding 41-14 win in the opening game of the new Southwest Valley Conference Blue Division.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure we were physically and mentally ready," Lockport coach George Czart said of the Neuqua game. We eliminated our mistakes and we played physical. Our guys responded.

"We've got 80 kids on the sideline. Everyone has a job and has to be ready for it."

Johnny Wesolowski, a senior, who was the Porters' top runner with over 300 yards and six touchdowns in their first two games, was out last week. He was optimistic for this Friday's game at Waubonsie Valley but his status was still unknown at the start of the week.  

Last week, Lockport was also without its usual kicker and punter, junior Matt Blazewski. He also hopes to return soon and those two things could have derailed a lot of teams. But it was next man up for the Porters.  

Tyler Pospisil filled in as the main running back, rushing for 111 yards and four touchdowns behind an offensive line of seniors Kaden Makhlouf, Michael Pew, and Keiland Vasvery, as well as junior Owen Wilczak, and sophomore Ethan Posey. In the meantime, senior Gavin Monreal filled in at punter and kicker and converted on 5-of-6 extra points.  

"I love watching Tyler run," Czart said of the bruising style of play that Pospisil brings. "He reminds me of Chuck Muncie, Ricky Bell, Herschel Walker, and Earl Campbell. Just those big guys that used to run out of the I formation.

"Also, Gavin (Monreal) does a good job. He kicks the ball, punts the ball, and plays a little defense (at linebacker). The same thing for Adam (Kozak, a junior, who returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown). You just have to be ready."

Both teams come into this week's Southwest Valley crossover with a 2-1 record, so it's a big one for a playoff push as the winner will have 60 percent of the victories it takes to become playoff-eligible.

Waubonsie Valley shut out its first two opponents, Oswego East (14-0) and Plainfield East (50-0). The Warriors put up a fight last week but lost 20-17 to host Bradley-Bourbonnais (3-0) in the Southwest Valley Green opener for both teams. 

A telling statistic in that game, however, was that the Boilermakers outgained the Waubonsie Valley 364-147. 

Waubonsie Valley took advantage of special teams play and had a 14-7 halftime lead. to the locker room. The Boilermakers went to punt on but it was blocked by a trio of Warriors setting the visitors up at the Bradley-Bourbonnais 13-yard line. Senior Chrisjan Simmons scored three plays later on a 5-yard run to tie the game at 7-7 two minutes into the second quarter.

On the next Boilermakers possession, they attempted a 31-yard field goal. But it was blocked, with senior Josh Tinney scooping the loose ball and taking it the other way for a 70-yard touchdown with 5:36 left in the first half. That held up for the halftime lead. 

Later, an interception set up the Warriors at the Bradley-Bourbonnais 16-yard line, and they converted a 30-yard field goal for a 17-14 lead 10 seconds into the fourth quarter. So the Warriors did well on special teams and made some key defensive plays. 

"We're going in expecting their best game," Czart said of the matchup. "They have a good defense, good special teams. They've either won or been in their first three games."

The Warriors were a football power for 30 years. Between 1989 and 2018, they made the playoffs 21 times. But they haven't made it since 2018. 

With a lot of seniors back from last season's 4-5 team, first-year coach Adam Pucylowski is aiming to compete in the Green Division with Bradley-Bourbonnais, DeKalb, Lincoln-Way Central, and Stagg. Two-way senior Stefan Popov is one of four returning starters on the offensive line, and Simmons returns at running back. The secondary has three returning starters: seniors Josh Hung, Owen Roberts, and Tinney.

"It's going to be old-time football again on a grass field for the second week in a row," Czart said of playing at Waubonsie Valley. "We have to play our best game to win but if we can run the football again, we'll do well.

"I'd rather be 3-0. But I like that we're playing physical football."

The sophomore game is scheduled for 4:30 with the varsity game to follow again at approximately 7 PM.

By Randy Whalen

"Pops" was popping them.

Filling in as the main running back last week, Tyler Pospisil was literally running over people. The 5-foot-11 inch, 200-pound senior carried the ball 20 times for 111 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Lockport Township football team bounced back from a one-point loss and ran over Neugua Valley 41-14 on Friday night, September 13, in the Southwest Valley opener for both teams in Naperville. 

"People used to call me popsicle," Pospisil said about his last name. But they shorted it to 'Pops.'"

With Johnny Wesolowski out because of a hip injury, Pospisil's pounding running style sure tasted good for the Porters.

"Tyler is just tough, he ran over people," Lockport coach George Czart said. "Our offensive line dug in and we trusted them."

Lockport (2-1, 1-0) had 358 total yards, 255 of those on the ground as seven different players carried the ball.

"Big credit to Johnny Weso for helping me out and telling me what to do since I was in a new role," Pospisil said. "I'm very thankful for him and also for (running back) coach (Mark) Carmen.

"Also a shoutout to our offensive linemen and in the red zone, we brought in Payton Roberson as a blocking back in front of me and that was great. He's just 225 pounds of muscle and is a beast."

Roberson, a top defensive player as a linebacker, helped in the "heavy" package in short-yardage situations. He also carried the ball once for a 6-yard gain on a second-and-7 play that went to the Wildcat five. Pospisil scored from there on the next play and Lockport led 7-0 with 4:19 left in the first quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Porters started at the Neuqua 30 thanks to a nice return by junior Adam Kozak. On fourth-and-one from the nine, Pospisil plowed ahead for four yards. He scored his second TD of the game from five yards out on the next play. 

After going three-and-out on their first four possessions, the Wildcats got going behind senior quarterback Kiet Truong (16-of-28, 159 yards, TD). He was 4-for-4 for 63 yards on an 80-yard touchdown drive. He capped it off on a nice 30-yard pass to junior Benjamin Stefanski to cut the Lockport lead to 14-7 with 4:51 to play in the second quarter. That started a stretch of four touchdowns in just over three minutes.

The Porters took over on their own 20 and senior quarterback Conley Pfeiffer took off for a 50-yard jaunt on the first play. Pfeiffer, who finished 7-of-14 for 103 yards and added eight carries for 93 yards, then fired a 24-yard pass to Kozak down to the six. Two plays later, Pospisil plowed in from there and Lockport led 21-7 with 4:08 left in the first half.

After a quick three-and-out, it looked like Lockport could score again. But on a third-and-six play from the Wildcat 24, Pfeiffer had his pass batted up in the air by Ryan Mascari. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior All-Conference defensive end snared the ball out of the air and rumbled 65 yards for a touchdown. 

Junior Michael Creedon added the extra point and suddenly the Wildcats (0-3, 0-1) were back within a touchdown with 1:58 left in the first half. 

But that was short-lived as Kozak returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to score 13 seconds later on Friday the 13th. Senior Gavin Monreal, who was filling in for the week at kicker for junior Matt Blazewski, and did a nice job all game long, did miss this extra point. But he made the other five and had some touchbacks on kickoffs. 

"That was huge for Adam to do on the kickoff," Czart said. "We've done that before and he's capable. We needed all three facets to come through. Offense, defense, and special teams."

Kozak was ready to make a play but didn't know how close he was to the goalline. 

"I thought the ball was going into the end zone," he said. "But I trusted all my blockers. I had the big dudes in front of me and I just had to follow them. We can make plays, we just showed that we have to fill roles."

Neuqua drove to a first and goal at the five in the final seconds of the half. But on a second-and-goal play, the Porters swarmed Truong and sacked him as the half ran out. So Lockport led 27-14 at halftime.

A 39-yard pass from Pfeiffer to junior Brendan Mecher, who made a nice catch over the middle down to the Wildcat 16, set Lockport up in good position in the first drive of the second half. Mecher missed the previous week's 22-21 loss to Wheaton North but returned to grab three receptions for 64 yards and have one carry for five yards. 

Two plays later, Pospisil plowed in from 10 yards out for his fourth touchdown to make it 34-14 with 9:48 left in the third quarter. 

Starting late in the third quarter, Lockport turned to Rayden Cherco to carry the ball. The junior running back finished with nine carries for 36 yards and scored his first varsity touchdown from 3 yards out with 10:11 left in the game.

"It was amazing and I was grateful to score," Cherco said. "I didn't really expect to play but we know we all have to be able to step up. We all stepped up, did well, and showed that we also have a passing game."

The Wildcats only had two first downs in the second half. One was on a penalty, that nullified an interception by junior free safety Colton Benaitis in the third quarter. The other came in the final minute of the game. Lockport had a handful of sacks in the game, including a first half one by senior defensive end Ahmad Abusafieh. Senior linebacker John Sherrod added a second half one and junior defense end Dewatha Malone managed a pair of them as the Porter defense came up big.

"The last couple of games we've been struggling a bit," Malone said of the Lockport defense. "But we came out with purpose. It was a bounce-back game. Our defense is amazing and we showed what we can do."

So did Pospisil. He and the team hope Wesolowki will return. But he's ready to step up with way.

"Again, all the credit to the linemen," Pospisil said. "But yes, it does feel great to score four touchdowns and be a big part of the win."

By Randy Whalen

The last time the Lockport Township football team started 1-1 there were no playoffs.

That was in the shortened spring season in 2021. 

But starting that fall, when Lockport went on to win the Class 8A State Championship, the playoffs returned. So now the Porters know that coming off a loss and with this season's tough schedule, this week's matchup at Neuqua Valley is almost a must-win if they want to make the playoffs again this season.

"We have to regroup," Lockport coach George Czart said. "We're working hard at practice, studying our opponent and making corrections. Most of it is things that have popped up again. and it's about cleaning up our mistakes."

Things looked good for the Porters last Friday when senior fullback Tyler Pospisil scored his first varsity touchdown on a 4-yard run to take a 21-14 lead with 3:26 to play in the game. 

But Wheaton North went right downfield as senior quarterback Nick Johnson found junior wide receiver David Hyde who dashed and darted for a 59-yard gain down to the three. Two plays later, senior all-purpose player, Dylan Jung scored from a yard out with 2:22 to play. Then Johnston found junior tight end Shane Diericx alone in the back of the end zone to complete the conversion. That held up for the winning score in a 22-21 victory.

"That's a good quarterback," Czart said of Johnson. "He did a good job and knew which guy was open. We've played hard and hit hard but it's about lining up and continuously making plays."

Johnson finished 22-of-35 for 284 yards and had a touchdown pass. In the opener, Plainfield North senior quarterback Justus Byrd completed 24 passes in 42 attempts for 265 yards and three touchdowns. 

So Lockport has given up 549 passing yards in two games. Offensively, the Porters scored on their first two drives against Wheaton North but then stalled until the fourth quarter. 

"I'm confident we can have a quick turnaround and improve everything offensively," Lockport senior quarterback Conley Pfeiffer said. "I'm excited to move on to (this) week and work hard for a win."

The matchup with the host Wildcats is also the first of four games in the new Southwest Valley Conference Blue Division. It's huge for both teams as Neuqua Valley is currently 0-2 after losing 16-14 at Minooka last Friday when Sean Sample booted a 27-yard field goal with four seconds to play.  

Quarterback Kiet Truong connected with fellow senior Sean Anashel for a touchdown and later Truong scored himself to give the Wildcats the lead with under a minute to play. But their defense gave up a big pass play on fourth-and-20 as Minooka drove down in position for the win. 

So after having its heartbreaking finish, Neuqua Valley will be looking for a big win too. The last time the Wildcats were 0-3 was in 2009. That was also the last time that they had a losing record. Bill Ellinghaus has guided them to 12 straight winning seasons, including going 7-4 last year after a 1-2 start. 

If the Porters are going to avoid a 1-2 start, they will have to have guys step up all over. Last week Pospisil had over 100 total yards (60 rushing, 42 receiving) and Johnny Wesolowski added 23 carries for 123 yards and scored two more touchdowns. The senior running back now has over 300 yards rushing and six TDs in his first two games this season.

"We had some good plays on defense and special teams too," Czart said. "Colton Benaitis blocked a punt, Payton Roberson played well again at linebacker, and Dewatha Malone made a tackle on the three-yard line (on Hyde) by not giving up on the play. It was an awesome play."

This will be the first road game for Lockport this season. It will also be on a bit of a different surface.

"We have to have the road warrior mentality," Czart said. "Also their field there is grass. But we've played on grass in one way or another pretty much all our lives. We just have to know it's a four-quarter game."

The sophomore game is slated for 4:30 PM and the varsity kicks off at approximately 7 PM this Friday in Naperville. 

"Neuqua seems to be passing more," Crart said. "They're 0-2 but they're a good team. If we're not ready we are going to be 1-2. So we have to be ready."

By Randy Whalen

The deuces were wild and they weren't kind to the Lockport Township football team.

Wheaton North scored a touchdown and added a two-point conversion with 2:22 left in the fourth quarter on Friday, September 6 to stun the Porters 22-21 in Lockport.

Lockport (1-1) fell short of improving to 2-0 for a fourth straight season. The Falcons (2-0) won their second straight one-point game in the final moments. In their season opener, they tossed a touchdown from six yards out as time expired for a 23-22 over visiting Providence.

Was Lockport coach George Czart surprised that Wheaton North elected to go for two rather than the tie?

"I wasn't surprised at all," Czart said. "They wanted to win."

The Porters wanted to win, too. But they couldn't pull away from an early lead and instead found themselves again in a tight game. It was the second straight and 11th time in the last 18 regular-season games that Lockport, which defeated Plainfield North 28-21 in the opener, had a game decided by seven points or less. Its record in those games is 6-5, including 2-2 in games decided by one point.

"We need to stay more focused," said Lockport senior running back Johnny Wesolowski, who went over 100 yards again and scored a pair of touchdowns. "We need to eliminate the mistakes that we made."

Things looked good for the Porters when senior fullback Tyler Pospisil (7 carries for 60 yards) scored his first varsity touchdown on a 4-yard run to take a 21-14 lead with 3:26 to play in the game. 

That capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive that saw quarterback Conley Pfeiffer complete 3-of-5 passes for 37 yards It would have been 4-of-5 but his pass which fellow senior Adam Gieser made a nice grab to haul in at the two was ruled out of bounds. Undaunted, Pfeiffer fired a 6-yard pass to Pospisil to the Falcon 17 on fourth-and-six to keep the drive alive. 

Wesolowski (23 carries for 123 yards) had runs of nine and four yards to take it to the four and Pospisil scored from there. Junior Matt Blazewski added the extra point and Lockport led 21-14 with 3:26 to play in the game.

"Tyler Pops is a great kid and I love playing with him," Wesolowski said. "We work hard together in practice and he played his butt off Friday."

It also ended a streak of four straight non-scoring drives by the Porters.

"That late TD that we had was a good feeling because it was a well-put-together drive by everyone on offense," Pfeiffer said.  "But I would just say that we need to stay consistent on all forms in the offensive game. It all starts with practice, and we all knew looking back that we didn't have a very good week of practice."

Starting at their own 20 following a touchback, the Falcons moved to the 35 right away following a pass interference penalty. Then on second-and-seven, senior quarterback Nick Johnson found junior wide receiver David Hyde (3 receptions for 81 yards), who dashed and darted for a 59-yard gain down to the three. 

Senior all-purpose player, Dylan Jung scored from a yard out two plays later. So with 2:22 to play, Wheaton North was within one. 

"It's awesome, it's just incredible to be a part of this team," said Jung, who added an interception on defense. "It's my job to get the ball in that short yardage situation and that was my mentality, to score."

It was also the Falcons' mentality to go for two so they did. Johnston found junior tight end Shane Diericx alone in the back of the end zone to complete the conversion. That held up for the winning score.

"We knew we were going to win," Johnston said. "There was never a doubt, we were going to go to win the game."

The same pair connected in the opening week when Johnson found Diericx with a fourth-down pass as time expired for the victory.

"You get used to the rush and I was just mentally prepared," Johnson said of the 2-point pass. "I just hung in and the receivers made the adjustments. They're the ones that get the credit. They make it easier for me.

"We're just a team that keeps fighting. Our team mentality is to win games."

Johnston finished 22-of-35 for 284 yards and had a touchdown pass.

Following the touchdown, the Porters gained eight yards to their own 29 on first down. But went backward from there with a sack and two incompletions. They turned the ball over on downs with 1:34 to play and Wheaton North ran out the clock.

"We decided midway through the fourth quarter that we were going to go for two if we were in that situation," Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said. "It was another exciting game. We started bringing more pressure on defense in the second half. 

"Coming into the season this group had a lot of questions. But the guys have been winning games and they are excited."

Things looked good for the Porters to start as they scored on their first two possessions. Wesolowski scored on runs of two and five yards and Lockport led 14-0 three seconds into the second quarter. 

But the Porters struggled on offense after that and Wheaton North cut the lead in half when Johnson found senior Nik Schaafsma for a 30-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-13 play with 4:35 left in the second quarter. the halftime score was 14-7.

Junior Colton Benaitis blocked a punt to give them the ball, at the Wheaton North 30 late in the first half, the Porters turned the ball over on downs at the 25.

The Falcons held the ball for a 7-minute: 43-second span in the second half. That was capped when Schaafsma scored on a 1-yard run with 11:25 to play in the game and senior Luke Bellini booted the extra point to tie it at 14-14. That capped a 66-yard, 17-play drive that started when Lockport again turned the ball over on downs.

Junior defensive end Dewatha Malone and senior defensive end Kevin Hippner had sacks for the Porters. 

Lockport won last season's game, 37-22 in Wheaton. The matchup is between two teams that won state championships with dominating defenses in 2021. The Falcons defeated St. Rita 35-6 in the Class 7A title game, and Lockport toppled Maine South 24-6 right afterward in the 8A game.

"We just need to regroup as a team and work even harder during practice," Wesolowski said. "We need to get one percent better each day."

Pfeiffer finished 9-of-16 with an intercention, for 91 yards. 

"Moving on to the next week I would say we have to improve as an entire unit, but I'll take a majority of the blame for the lack of offense at times," Pfeiffer said. "I think we could all agree that our passing attack has to get better, but I'm very confident in my receivers making plays. 

"I just got to get the ball to them in the key moments. Our offensive line has looked great, and our defense played well enough to win that game, but we didn't come through for them when they needed us."

For the second straight game, the Porters gave up over 250 passing yards.

"We stopped the run again but we've got to reevaluate what we're doing against the pass," Czart said. "We watched film and thought we had the help we needed. Tyler (Pospisil) did well making plays for us though. He got that big first down and touchdown."

With a very difficult schedule, every game is huge. The next one is on the road at 7 PM this Friday, September 13 at Neuqua Valley in the Southwest Valley Blue opener. 

"We've got to get better," Czart said. "We've got no one to blame but ourselves. We've got to execute. we can't let them have the ball most of the third quarter. 

"We had every opportunity to win this game. We didn't get it done. We have to work to be 2-1 now. That's the goal."

By Randy Whalen

The Lockport Township football team plays a lot of close exciting games. 

Including last week's 28-21 season-opening victory over Plainfield North, 10 of the Porters' past 17 regular season games have been decided by a touchdown and conversion or less. 

But this week's opponent can claim to have won a game in the most exciting way imaginable.

That's Wheaton North which rallied for a wild 23-22 win over visiting Providence Catholic last Friday. That happened when Shane Diericx caught a fourth-down pass from 6 yards out as time expired. The junior tight end caught the pass from senior quarterback Nick Johnson and managed to bounce off a hard hit near the goal line to reach the end zone for the winning touchdown.

"Wheaton North is dangerous," Lockport coach George Czart said. "They beat Providence and that shows it. We jumped out on them last year and they got back in the game. Against Providence, their quarterback (Johnson, who had 3 TD passes) took them down there and they scored on a fourth down play. They have a nice passing game.

"We jumped out on them last year and they got back in the game."

A year ago the Porters won the Week No. 2 matchup in Wheaton by a score of 37-22. Austin Cichon, a senior at that time, returned the opening kickoff 73 yards for a Lockport TD. The Falcons (7-4 last year) trailed the whole game and trimmed the deficit to 24-22 but didn't score again.  

It was Wheaton North's first regular-season home loss since falling 22-21 to Lake Park on Sept. 20, 2019. It was also the Falcons' largest loss since a 28-3 setback at Batavia on the final day of the 2019 season. 

Plus, the matchup is one between two teams that won state championships with dominating defenses in 2021. The Falcons defeated St. Rita 35-6 in the Class 7A title game, and Lockport toppled Maine South 24-6 right afterward in the 8A game.

Last year's victory was also a breakout game for now-senior Johnny Wesolowski, who finished with 12 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns. In last week's season opener, Wesolowski had 23 carries for 188 yards and four touchdowns. 

Wesolowski is impressing Lockport veteran assistant coach, Mark Carmen. 

"Johnny has got better by practicing hard," Carmen said. "It's just hard work. He works his butt off."

Czart knows the whole team has to work their butts off to improve to 2-0 for the fourth straight season.

"It was huge to get a W to start the season," he said. "We looked good in a lot of areas but what worries me is that we have to correct our mistakes. I thought our run defense was superb. But again, we did it at the expense of giving up the pass. We dropped seven guys into coverage and (Plainfield North) still got passing yards. That's what concerns me.

"We've got a solid pass defense. We just have to execute at the correct times."

Plainfield North quarterback Justus Byrd was 24-of-42 for 265 yards and a trio of touchdowns in the opener. But he was intercepted by junior free safety Colton Benaitis and sacked by senior defensive linemen Kevin Hipner and Dereon Simpson, as well as senior linebacker John Sherrod lll.

"We're expecting another gritty battle," Sherrod said of facing Wheaton North. "Just like against Plainfield North. There's no easy game on our schedule but we know that the quarterback can't throw with a guy in his face."

Czart credited an unsung hero in the opening victory. That was senior Tyler Pospisil, who had 18 yards on three carries and two receptions. He also corralled an onside kick from the Tigers late in the game.

"With guys running right at you, that's a tough play," Czart said of getting the onside kick. "Also we know we have a good kicker in (junior) Matt Blazewski (who was 4-for-4 on extra point attempts but had a 27-yard field goal tipped and it missed wide left)."

This Friday's home game is also Senior Night, with the Seniors starting to be honored at 5:30. So the kickoff is slated for 6:15 PM. It's also the "Porters GO GOLD" Night on Friday for Pediatric Cancer Awareness. So wear GOLD to REMEMBER and SUPPORT.

"It was a nice crowd and great energy," Czart said of the season opener. "We know if we deliver on the field that we'll get the support, no doubt."

By Randy Whalen

How amped-up was the Lockport Township football team before its season-opening game?

"I threw up," senior running back Johnny Wesolowski said. 

He wasn't the only one as a couple of other teammates did too.

But then they all showed up. Especially Wesolowski as he scored four touchdowns and the Porters needed every single one of them as they outlasted Plainfield North 28-21 on Friday evening, August 30, in Lockport.

It was the fourth straight season that Lockport (1-0) has won its opener. The previous three times the Porters made the playoffs. 

"It was pure nerves," Wesolowski said of his sickness before the game. "It's just the last, first game and there's a lot on the line. I've been playing with these guys for the last 10 years.

Wesolowski finished with 23 carries for 188 yards and scored on runs of four, 14, 52, and 17 yards. His final two touchdowns came in the fourth quarter and gave the Porters a two-touchdown cushion.

"Not since youth ball with the Homer Stallions," Wesolowski said when asked if he'd ever scored four TDs in a game. "It was all the offensive line. They made the blocks, we just all worked our butts off and the coaches came up with a great game plan."

The line consists of seniors Kaden Makhlouf, Michael Pew, and Keiland Vasvery, as well as junior Owen Wilczak, and sophomore Ethan Posey.

"It was good to see," Lockport senior quarterback Conley Pfeiffer said. "Our offensive line and Johnny won the game. It was a big win. we talked about it before the game and looked at it as a must-win."

Pfeiffer made his first-ever start at quarterback. He was hot early but only attempted three passes in the second half, completing one. He finished 13-of-19 for 93 yards. 

"We slowed down a little bit on offense in the second quarter," Pfeiffer said. "We've got to pick it up some and finish it. But it's a nice win going into week two."

The Porters led 14-7 at halftime. But Plainfield North senior quarterback Justus Byrd settled in late in the first half and finished with three touchdown passes. Byrd, who transferred to Plainfield North from LaSalle-Peru, completed 24 passes in 42 attempts. He had a 59-yard pass to senior Omar Coleman (6 receptions for 99 yards) with 3:54 left in the second quarter to get the Tigers on the board. 

His 13-yard pass to senior Amiel Clark, with 7:40 left in the third quarter tied the game at 14-14. Then his final TD toss, a 6-yard TD pass to sophomore Darin Ashiru, with 2:23 to play in the game, drew Plainfield North within 28-21. 

The Tigers (0-1) got the ball back with 1:55 left to play and drove to the Lockport 43. But on fourth-and-10,  Byrd was sacked for a 14-yard loss by senior linebacker John Sherrod with 15.9 seconds to play. A Pfeiffer kneel-down ended the game. 

"When the game is on the line at the end, big-time players make big-time plays, and I consider myself a big-time player," Sherrod said. "To win the opener brings us energy. It was great."

Wesolowski's two first-half TDs came with 3:44 left in the first quarter and then 10:24 left in the second quarter to go ahead 14-0. With the score tied 14-14 in the third quarter, Wesolowski had consecutive runs of 11, 12, and 13 yards to set up Lockport with a first down at the Tiger 13. But the drive stalled and junior Matt Blazewski had his 27-yard field goal attempt tipped and go wide left with 1:17 left in the third quarter.

After that, there was a trio of three-and-outs. Two of them were forced by the Porter defense with senior defensive lineman Dereon Simpson having a big third down sack to force a punt in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

Plainfield North punted and Lockport got the ball back on its own 48 with 9:10 to play in the game. Wesolowski then ripped off his 52-yard scoring gallop to the right side with 8:59 to play putting the Porters ahead to stay.

"That was Adam Gieser and Adam Kozak with downfield blocks," Wesolowski said of his wide receivers making key blocks. "That's how that run became a 52-yard touchdown.  

"Plainfield North is a great team and program that was 9-0 two years ago. So this is a big win."

Tiger coach Anthony Imbordino was impressed too.

"Our guys played hard but Lockport was the better team," Imbordino said. "It was a good game and it's good to play a disciplined team like Lockport. Their running back runs hard and he wanted it more than our defense.

"Omar Coleman is very fast. We just need the ball to bounce differently for us. We play Lockport for two more years, so hopefully we can get one of these"

It was the fourth-ever meeting between the two schools. Both teams scored fourth quarter touchdowns in the season opener last fall but Lockport scored the final one and won 14-8. 

They also played each other in the second week of the season in both 2011 and 2012. Each time the home team won and ended up making the playoffs. The Porters blocked a punt in the fourth quarter in 2011, leading to the winning touchdown in a 28-21 victory. In 2012, Plainfield North won 35-2.

Junior free safety Colton Benaitis snared an interception with 7:30 to play to set up Wesolowski's final touchdown, a 17-yard run with 5:52 remaining.

"He's a football player and we can have him at five different positions," Lockport coach George Czart said of Benaitis. "But at free safety, he can roam in the middle and he was able to get that interception. Their quarterback (Byrd) was good and made plays."

So did Wesolowski.

"Coming into the season, I knew Johnny was a special running back," Czart said. "So I'm happy he got to live up to the hype I had for him. Our line did a great job making the holes and he did a good job running through them."

By Randy Whalen

It took an extra week compared to last year but it's here.   

Because this year had a leap day and Thanksgiving is on its latest possible day, the Illinois High School Association football schedule starts a little later this season.

But the wait has only added to the excitement as the Lockport Township football season opener is this Friday, Aug. 30, at home against Plainfield North. 

Last year's opener was on August 25. In a rematch, the Porters hope for the same result as last season. That was a 14-8 victory in a defensive tussle in Plainfield.

"Absolutely," Lockport coach George Czart said of expecting the same sort of competitive game this season. "We'd be foolish not to expect anything different. The game last year was so close. Hopefully, we'll be in that position again at the end. 

"Plainfield North has a short history but a great reputation of playing very, very well and are very well coached. We have to go by what they have done in the past and prepare based on that. We can make adjustments during the game."

Last season's game was very defensive. Lockport led 6-0 going into the fourth quarter. But both teams scored touchdowns and had two-point conversions in a span of 1 minute and 12 seconds in the final quarter. Then senior Drew Gallagher scored from seven yards out and Johnny Wesolowski added a two-point conversion with 6:41 to play to put the Porters ahead to stay.

Wesolowski will be looked to as a main running back this season. While Conley Pfeiffer, who is a senior, takes over as quarterback.

"I can't wait. It will be my first time starting a varsity game and It'll be a good time." Pfeiffer said.  "As for Plainfield North, I don't want to give away too much about our game planning, but from what we see in the little film we have, we expect to see some (different coverages) with a little bit of man. We expect to see some pressure from the linebackers, but nothing we won't be prepared for."

The Tigers return eight offensive starters from last season, including much of their line. Wide receivers Amiel Clark, Omar Colemen, and Devan Draughon along with running back Jack Tota, will be counted on. Seven starters are back on defense, including senior linebackers Andrew Elkarah and Kevin Wilson, and senior defensive back Treycen Bownes.

A pair of transfers, Justice Byrd (Ottawa) at quarterback, along with Malik Jassim (Plainfield Central) at running back, will also be looked to for Plainfield North, which plays in the West Division of the Southwest Prairie Conference. 

In last season's opening game, Payton Roberson was in on 10 tackles, had a sack, and grabbed an interception. As a middle linebacker, he's expected to lead the Lockport defense again. Juniors Colton Benaitis at free safety and Mike Pratt on the defensive line. Also, seniors Kevin Hippner on the defensive line as well as Anthony Polselli and Tristan Potete at defensive back, and John Sherrod at linebacker are expected to make an impact as the Porter defense should be a strong suit.  

Half of Lockport's regular season games in the past two years have been decided by seven points or less. That means the kicking game will be big. The Porters have a familiar name in that role again this season. That's junior Matt Blazewski. His older brother Nate Blasewski was in the placekicking role the past two seasons. Just like Nate, who was 17-of-24 on field goals in his two seasons with a long of 51, Matt can make a kick from 50-plus yards. 

"Matt is going to be the same type of kicker," Czart said. "Yes, special teams is very important and we always want to have good special teams."

Last year, the Tigers were one of six teams with four wins that qualified for the Illinois High School Association playoffs. That was based on their outstanding strength of schedule. It was their fourth straight season qualifying under coach Anthony Imbordino, who enters his sixth season at the school with a record of 32-16. There were no playoffs in the 2020-21 season. 

This is the 19th varsity season for the Tigers. They've had a lot of success in that time, making the playoffs 11 times, starting in 2009. In 2016, Plainfield North went all the way to the Class 7A State Championship Game, losing to an undefeated East St. Louis team 26-13, and finishing the season with a record of 11-3.

This will be the fourth-ever meeting between the two teams. They played each other in the second week of the season in both 2011 and 2012. Each time the home team won and ended up making the playoffs. The Porters blocked a punt in the fourth quarter in 2011, leading to the winning touchdown in a 28-21 victory. In 2012, Plainfield North won 35-2.

The evening schedule is for the varsity-only game to start at 6 PM. The forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms with gusty winds, but that's out of everyone's control. It's a new season and it's exciting to open at home.

"We've got to get that first game," Czart said. "It's so important to your psyche to get a victory. Everything we are doing is geared for Week No. 1.

"We always have a great atmosphere and home-field advantage. We just want to live up to the hype and expectations and go from there."

By Randy Whalen

There are only nine regular season high school football games.

So the margin for error is slim. As it heads into a new season, with a new tough as ever revamped conference, the Lockport Township football team knows this and knows that it has to find a way to win the close games.

Last year, the Porters had five of their nine regular season games decided by seven points or less. They won their first two but lost the last three and finished the regular season 5-4. They then lost their opening playoff game by 30-plus points to a very good opponent for the second straight season.  

"I thought we could have been 8-1," Lockport coach George Czart said of last year's team. "We lost three games that came down to the end. If we win those, it's 8-1 in my math."

The trio of close setbacks were a 30-28 loss at Sandburg (week 4), a 38-32 loss at Bradley-Bourbonnais (week 5), and a 34-27 home loss to Homewood-Flossmoor (week 9). If Lockport wins any one of those, the first-round playoff pairing is much different.

In the 2022 season, which also finished 5-5, Lockport went 3-1 in close games and had a trio of them decided by one point. But one was a 28-27 double overtime loss at Andrew on the last day of the regular season. Again, this cost the Porters a higher playoff seed.

So what do they have to do to pull these close games out consistently?

"We're expecting close games and that's what we're training for," Czart said. "We have to stay calm, cool, and collected in those situations. Someone has to make a play and we've got to realize what got us to that point. 

"Last year we jumped out to some big leads and then let up at the end. There were times when the other team got on a roll and we didn't do well against teams that passed well. We have to compete at a steady flow and not get too high or too low in those games."

Senior middle linebacker Payton Roberson (5-foot-11 inches, 220 pounds) is expected to lead the defense again this season. He had 111 tackles and seven sacks last year in spearheading the Porter defense. He has a more direct approach as to how the team can win close games.

"We have to clean up the mistakes," Roberson said. "The less of those we have the more dominating we can be. It won't even be close."

Roberson was greatly influenced by seeing his older brother, Keegan Roberson, play wide receiver on the Porters Class 8A State Championship team in 2021. 

"I was on the sideline as a freshman to watch Keegan," Roberson recalled of the title game. "It was awesome to have a team like that and to reflect on what it took to get there."

The next year, Roberson moved up to the varsity for the 8A first-round game against Glenbard West. While Lockport lost 38-7, he made his impression in the matchup.

"I played in the first-round game against Glenbard West and got a sack and tackle for loss," Roberson said. "It was an awesome feeling knowing I could hang with the big dudes and now I'm a big dude.

"I want to make a big impact on the field. I love making big hits and not being afraid of anyone. I want to change everyone's game plan. We just need to have some key players make big plays. If we can clean up our little mistakes, we can dominate."

Roberson leads a big group of returners on the defensive side of the ball. A half dozen other guys got a lot of starting time and experience last year. They are juniors Colton Benaitis (6-2, 185) at free safety and Mike Pratt (6-5, 250) on the defensive line. Seniors Kevin Hippner (6-5, 204) and on the defensive line as well as Anthony Polselli (5-10, 160) and Tristan Potete (5-10, 170) at defensive back, and John Sherrod (6-0, 205) at linebacker. 

"We're looking forward to the new schedule," Sherrod said. "Our defense wasn't as good as we wanted it to be last year. So we're looking to step it up and take it to a new level. We've got to do our jobs. It's a team sport in the end and I think if all 11 guys do their jobs we'll be good.

"Football is a game of effort and once everyone gets their head into it and gets on the same page, we'll be on the right path."

Many others will be looked to on defense as well. They include senior Joe Borowski (5-10, 208) and juniors Jake Burnso (5′-10, 200), Andre Labuda (6-1, 215), and Chris Miller (5-11, 175) as linebackers. Seniors Ahmad Abusafieh (6-1, 230) and Brian Kwiatkowski (6-3, 220) on the defensive line, and juniors AJ Garcia (5-10, 150) and Nick Moerman (5-11, 180) at defensive backs. 

Last year, seven of Lockport's nine opponents made the postseason. Only Andrew and Bolingbrook did not. Following last season, Bolingbrook left the SouthWest Suburban Conference, leaving the league unbalanced. The same thing happened with the DuPage Valley Conference when West Aurora left that league.

So, in football only, the two powerhouse conferences combined into a 15-team league, the Southwest Valley, with three divisions. The Porters are in the Blue Division and will play traditional opponents, Homewood-Flossmoor and Lincoln-Way East as well as Neuqua Valley and Naperville North for their league games. 

Every team on this season's schedule, except for Waubonsie Valley, which was 4-5 last year, made the playoffs last fall. 

"We have some new teams on the schedule but the goal is to get better every game," Lockport senior running back Johnny Wesolowski said. "We just have to go back to our roots and find it within us to win the close games."

Wesolowski, who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds, was one of a bevy of running backs who had over 100 yards rushing last season. He finished with 44 carries for 209 yards and two touchdowns as five players had over 100 yards rushing on the season.

He's looking for more this season but doesn't mind being one of the many backs if the Porters once again spread the wealth.

"This team has a lot of depth and I like that we can play a bunch of people at running back and give teams a different look," Wesolowski said. "It messes with their heads a little.

"We are looking forward to it. This (Friday) will be my last first game of high school football. It's a little emotional but I'm excited to have one more season with this group of kids. We are going to make the most of it."

Also being looked to at running back/halfback will be senior Tyler Pospisil (5-11, 200), junior Tyler Sefcik (5-9, 208) and Roberson may see some time at running back as well. 

The tight ends include seniors Adam Gieser (6-1, 185), Teddy Gorski (5-8, 200), and junior Mason Moore (6-3, 210). Wide receivers that will be looked to are senior Izeyah Pruitt (6-2, 177) along with juniors Brendan Mecher (6-0, 175) Adam Kozak (5-10, 146), and David Kundrat (5-11, 175), who never played football before this year.

Connor Cronin a 6-foot-2-inch, 310-pound offensive lineman saw the most time on offense of any returner from last year. He leads a group of linemen that are always in flux with injuries. But they include sophomore Ethan Posey (6-5, 290) who is already getting looks from major universities. 

Seniors Kaden Makhlouf (5-9, 235), Bryson Melgoza (5-10, 200), Michael Pew (6-4, 235), Keiland Vasvery (5-′10, 240) and junior Owen Wilczak (6-2, 220) will also be looked to anchor the line.

Last but obviously far from least is quarterback Conley Pfeiffer. The 5-foot-9 inch 165-pound senior will get his first starting time at quarterback. Filling in for Drew Gallagher, who was injured in the fourth quarter in the final regular season game, Pfeiffer nearly led a comeback against H-F. He finished last season 3-of-4 passing with 31 yards and added 10 carries for 18 yards and scored a touchdown.

He is the last of the Pfeiffer brothers, who all played quarterback for the Porters. Riley graduated in 2021 and Brady graduated in 2023. 

"I grew up watching my brothers play and got to be on the sidelines for the state title game," Conley Pfeiffer said. "That was a pretty cool feeling.

"I'm ready. Especially being an offensive guy. We plan to get in position and score every single drive. I know our defense can stop them so I'm ready to play. I can't wait. It will be my first time starting a varsity game and It'll be a good time."

Czart has complete trust in Pfeiffer but if needed Mecher will be looked to as the backup quarterback.

"Brendan will be on the field, probably at wide receiver," Czart said of Mecher. "We have to play good defense by playing good offense and controlling the ball. We also expected Declan Sojka to compete for the quarterback position. He's a senior and a good, smart, athletic kid. But unfortunately, his football career is over with a season-ending injury."

Matt Blazewski, a 6-foot, 175-pound junior, will handle the punting and placekicking duties. If that name sounds familiar it's because his older brother Nate Blasewski was in the placekicking role the past two seasons. Just like Nate, who was 17-of-24 on field goals in his two seasons with a long of 51, Matt can make a kick from 50-plus yards. 

After coming back to be the offensive coordinator last year, former head coach Bret Kooi decided not to return this season. Dave Pammer and Zach Vargas will handle the offensive play calls this season. Czart will be the defensive coordinator. 

Other varsity assistant coaches include Mark Carmen, Kyle Cook, Jimmy Fox, Derek Freiberg, Pete Kishline, Rob Schultz, Mike Schroeder, and Josh Vargas.

If the Porters can make the playoffs this season, which is something they certainly expect to do, it would match the longest postseason qualifying streak in school history. That was 2001-2004 and included a pair of Class 8A State Championships. 

There are five home games this season. All the home games are scheduled for 6 PM, including this Friday, August 30 season opener as Plainfield North comes to town.  

"Yes, let's play, I'm looking forward to it," Czart said. "We have a great opportunity to play a great sport and schedule. We're working hard to build our team up and not make any excuses.

"The Maroon and White Night (on Friday, August 23) went well and we came out injury-free. We are expecting good things this season and now it's time for us to deliver."

By Randy Whalen

When Mike Taylor first played high school football it was his sophomore season at Lincoln-Way North.

His coach? George Czart, who is now in his sixth season as the varsity coach at Lockport Township. 

This fall Czart has entrusted Taylor to take over as the sophomore coach for the Porters football team.

"I met George when I was the age of the kids I'm coaching now," Taylor said of playing on the first Lincoln-Way North sophomore team in the fall of 2007. "My dad was a football player at Lincoln-Way (when it was one school) and my brother played at Lincoln-Way East. 

"This is my sixth year at Lockport. George made such an impact on me as a sophomore that when I came here I talked my way onto his staff. I was the outside linebacker and defensive backs coach under George on the varsity for the past five years and now I'm the sophomore coach. We have over 60 kids out on the sophomore team alone and I'm very excited."

Taylor, who works in special education at Lockport, is excited to be the coach of his own team. But he's also excited to have a trio of veteran assistant coaches. They are Kevin Bolling, Ron Kulowski, and Ryan Russell.

"Being a new head coach and having three guys who have been in that role on the sophomore level is great," Taylor said. "One of the things right when I took the job is that I knew that Griffin Russell was going to be my quarterback. So my first test was to get Ryan Russell to coach down on the sophomore level with me. 

"I have a 2-year-old boy who is growing up around Lockport football, so I'm really big on getting family involved. So to have Ryan here, that dynamic is special."

With Ryan Russell, who was a varsity assistant for numerous years, as an assistant coach, and his son, Griffin Russell as the quarterback of the sophomore squad, the Porters plan to put that family dynamic to work.

"My had is the offensive coordinator and I like it," Griffin Russell said. "It builds a bond and we can put our heads together and build an offense together."

The younger Russell quarterbacked the freshmen "A" team to a 4-5 record last year. The sophomore squad went 3-6 a year ago and they expect to do a lot better this fall.

"The coaches have seen how much potential we have and are building on it," Griffin Russell said. "We want it to result in more W's this season. 

"I've only been a quarterback since I was a freshman at Lockport. I like bringing a level of communication to everyone. I feel like our offense and defense is based on communication."

Of course, Russell can't do it alone on offense either. Other key offensive players include linemen Jakob Gasienica-Szymkow, Alec Kruczak, Philip Ponterio, and Marcelo Thomas. Jayden Wesolawski, whose older brother Johnny Wesolowski is a running back on the varsity, will be a running back. Christian Mangan is a tight end and Rory Radatz, Eddie Rios, Khairi Sias and freshman MJ Redden will be looked to at wide receiver.

Mangan believes the team is ready to improve this season.

"We've got our guys in the right positions now," Mangan said. "It was all good last year too but this is different because our guys keep developing and our coaches have now put us over the top.

"I just love football. It's the friends you make playing here."

Defensively, Nick Ontiveros will be looked to as nose guard, while Cornell Bass and John Studer will also be on the line as defensive ends. Griffen Benson, Lucas Clark, and Logan Stewart will be linebackers, and twins Josh (at safety), and Matt (at cornerback) Kies as well as Jacob Manzo (cornerback) will be looked at as defensive backs. 

"I never played football until freshman year," Bass said. "I wanted to experience it. My dad (Corey Bass) played at Joliet West and encouraged me to play. My older brother, Corey Bass, Jr., also encouraged me to play.

"I love hitting and I like the contact. What I love about our team is the chemistry. It's there and we're going to go for it."

As has been the case since the COVID season of 2020-21, Lockport plays its home sophomore games at 9 AM on the Saturday mornings following the home varsity games. Starting on Saturday, August 31, there are five home games this season.

By Randy Whalen

As sixth graders, the current crop of Lockport Township freshmen football players got to watch the 2021 varsity Porters do something special.

Win the 2021 Class 8A State Championship.

So that attitude of success has rubbed off on this season's freshmen.

Take wide receiver/strong safety Kenny McElroy as an example. 

"That gives us high expectations," McElroy said of the Porters winning a state title a few years ago. "We just have to live up to what coaches tell you. 

"We want to go undefeated and be state champions by senior year. Just hard work and obsession over talent. That's what gets it done."

The Porters will look to get it done on the freshmen level this season. Last year they went 4-5 on the "A" level under coach Joe Dunlap. Just over a decade ago, Dunlap was playing freshmen football. A 2017 Lincoln-Way West graduate, he played his first three years at Lincoln-Way Central before the district reconfigured and he went to play for the Warriors his senior season.

As a player at Lincoln-Way West, Dunlap got to know now Lockport head coach, George Czart. Now in his second season as freshman coach, Dunlap knows he's better prepared for the job and has the players bought in.

"Last year was learning the Lockport grit," Dunlap said. "Just learning in and out the functions of Lockport. Just to take the 'Anchor Down' slogan we have and apply that thinking. 'Nothing is going to move me. I'm dug in.'"

With over a week to go before the first game, there are positions in place and others are still in flux. But Dunlap loved the spirit that his squad showed at practice on Wednesday, August 21.

"This (August 21) was our first full day with pads and it was electric," he said. "The guys want jobs and they're hungry and want to work. This class sits through eight hours of school to go to two hours of football practice."

Some defensive players that will be looked to are Matt Finnegan at nose tackle, Dylan McKeown at linebacker, Lou Schultz at outside linebacker and cornerback, and Tucker Temko on the defensive line.

"They are embracing the grind," Dunlap said. "A guy like Lou Schultz will come in and pick your pocket."

Offensively, there are guys with family ties to Lockport. JR Nartey, whose brother Leslie was a running back on the 2017 and 2018 teams, will be looked to as a running back. So will Noah Beltran, who will double as a safety. His older brother, Elijah who graduated this spring, was a running back for the Porter varsity the past two seasons.

"It takes all of us," JR Nartey said. "We have to do it as a team. We have to be dedicated and want to play the game of football.

"My brother played here and it's just a feeling. I want to live up to the name. Being on a Lockport team means the world to me."

Some standouts on the offensive line should include Donovan Edmonds and Kuba Kruczak. They will help protect quarterbacks Zach Vander Tuuk and Brennen Malloy, who can double as a wide receiver.

"They're committed and growing rapid crazy as players," Dunlap said of his quarterbacks. "They're students of the game."

A great thing about freshmen football is that it gets the kids better as players and as people. That fact is not lost on Austin Bielski, who will double at middle linebacker on defense and halfback on offense.

"We want to come out with a lot of wins but also with a lot of improvement and momentum," Bielski said. "We want to be ready and keep stacking on every year. We want to make sure that we're better every year."
 

By Randy Whalen

George Czart says things directly and to the point.

"Sure, it's good to see the guys getting the pads on at the summer camp," the veteran Lockport Township head football coach said. "But if this is their first time back at it, they're behind.

"The next day after the last season ends, we get after it. We get in the weight room. That's when it begins."

Yes, it does. However, summer camp allows the coaches to see everyone and for the team to bond again.

"We go from 8 to 10:30 AM Monday through Thursday," Czart said of the summer camp that ends on July 25. "It's gone great and been a very good camp. We have to find out what the kids can do. 

"We definitely want to get our 11 best guys on the field. There might be a late bloomer out there and we want to see what they can do. When the season starts, you get the top guys more turns. But now, in the summer, everything is equal time."

While the summer camp has been going strong since June 3, the team took to the field before that. A great offseason highlight was to participate in a special 7 vs. 7 game at Soldier Field on Mother's Day, May 12. There the Porters rallied in the final moments and defeated Lincoln-Way West 36-35. 

That was part of the Team Zone High School Spring 7-on-7 League, which started on April 21. Lockport won the championship for the second straight season on Sunday, June 2. 

"We were in the same league as Lincoln-Way West and were able to go up there for that game," Czart said of the Soldier Field experience. "I'm just excited that we're getting going and the guys are getting their accolades."

Conley Pfeiffer, who is expected to be the starting quarterback this season, gave his wide receivers their accolades for coming up big in the 7-on-7 game against Lincoln-Way West.

"I've got guys like Adam Gieser, Adam Kozak, Brendan Mecher, and Izeyah Pruitt at wide receiver," Pfeiffer said. "It was a good time being on that field (Solider Field) and a good experience. 

"When we played Lincoln-Way West it was a good game. It was two pretty good offensive teams and we we matched up pretty well. We played half the football field and we got one last drive and were able to score at the end. We will see them again in the regular season and it should be close again."

Pfeiffer is the final of a trio of brothers who have quarterbacked the Porters. Brady (Class of 2023) was the quarterback two years ago, and Riley (Class of 2021) was the starting quarterback for much of the spring of 2021 COVID season. 

"The 7-on-7 league was good for the offense," Pfeiffer said. "I expect the team to win this season. I thought our practice (on Tuesday, July 16) was one of the better ones this summer. We were clicking on a lot of things."

While Pfeiffer expects good things this season, he and the team know that a key to the offense is always the line. The anchor of the line this season will be fellow senior, Connor Cronin.

"I've played a lot at center but lately it's been more at guard and also at tackle too," Cronin said. "I'll play anywhere they need me. I got pulled up for the playoffs two years ago and was starting on the varsity last year. There were all seniors next to me last year and I learned a lot from them."

Along with the summer scrimmages, including 7-on-7, there were also youth camps. That's something that Czart always enjoys as it introduces kids to the program.

"We have our annual youth camp for fifth to eighth graders," Czart said of the camp in the third week of July. "It's gone well. I remember some of our now seniors at youth camp. Now they are helping by working the camp and that's cool to see."

Something else that's always cool is the Porter lineman participating in the "Battle of the Big Butts" This summer was the 24th annual edition of the event. It took place on Thursday, July 11 at West Aurora. The event attracted linemen from 27 different high schools with 104 five-man teams and over 520 athletes competing in various skill events and challenges. 

Those included a bench press, with the varsity starting at 185 pounds, and total reps counting for the team score. A 40-yard dash, medicine-ball throw, agility run including chutes, bags, cones, hurdle, ladders, tractor-tire relay, two-man teams flipping tires for 10 yards, a five-man sled drive for five seconds, a tug of war, and the always entertaining watermelon-eating race, which is a non-scoring event. But the team and individual winners were recognized.

West Aurora won its own competition, by capturing three events. But the Porters tied Wheaton North for second, winning two events. 

"It was a lot of fun and really good for team bonding," Cronin said of the "Battle of the Big Butts."We won the tire flip and the tug of war and got third overall. There were a lot of different teams and hundreds of guys compering."

While the actual football tryouts and practices are less than three weeks away, starting on Monday, August 12, Cronin believes that the summer camp set the tone.

"We have a tough schedule but we'll be just fine," he said. "Most of our opponents made the playoffs last year. But that's why you play them, to be the best."

By Randy Whalen

Ahmad Abusafieh is a senior and is a defensive end on the Lockport Township football team.

You played the No. 1 team in the state last week in a 47-14 loss at Lincoln-Way East. What are your impressions of the game? 
"I thought our defense put it all there. We didn't pay attention to the score, we just went out there and played. Jonas Williams is a great quarterback for Lincoln-Way East but he felt it that game. We have some things to fix, otherwise, we gave it our all that game."

You have to win the next two games to guarantee getting in the playoffs. How are you approaching that?
"Yes, 100 percent we have to win and that begins this week with Lincoln-Way West. They are really aggressive but we will also bring our aggressiveness against everyone we go against. We have the guys to get it done."

How long have you been playing football?
"I actually started in eighth grade. All my friends played football and I didn't. So I just showed up to a Junior Porters practice. I was 120 pounds, I was never gifted but I showed up every day and I fell in love with it. I was a wrestler before that."

Do you still wrestle?
"No. Our Homer Junior High team was the 2-time state champions when I was in sixth and seventh grade. I wrestled on the varsity some at Lockport my freshman year but not since. I felt that I had to give my full effort to football. But I might pick up wrestling again this year. I'm still not sure. I'm thinking of going out for track and field too."  

What is it about the game of football that makes it the sport for you?
"Just being able to hit people. When you know where to be, the game is fun. But it's also the drive to get better. Just being able to get that one percent better, drives you. Plus, being around your friends and coaches drives you too." 

Have you had a personal highlight this season?
"Actually, I'd say in this past game, just being able to come around the edge and sack a guy like Jonas Williams. Just knowing that you have the confidence to do that. It shows us that if we fix the little things, we know we can do it."

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"He's been such a great mentor. He knows what he wants you to do and put out on the field. He won a state championship, so he knows what he's doing. But he makes everyone everyone better on and off the field. He's great."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I listen to all kinds of music. Hip-Hop, R&B, and even the country music that (senior linebacker) Payton Roberson plays. That's OK, there's a great culture in the locker room. If I had a pregame song, I'd say that it's "Run This Town" by Jay-Z. 

Do you plan to play football in college?
"Yes. That's definitely the plan. But I'm still working on what school to go to. I've been on some visits to D 2 and D 3 schools. It's just for a defensive end they are usually looking for a guy who is 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5. I'm just a little shorter than that (6-2) but I think I have the talent to do it."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"Just being with the guys and the coaches. Everyone is there to support you. It's just the people that make it great. Also the drive, the fan base, the parents. Everyone puts something into it to make it great to be an athlete at the school."

By Randy Whalen

Keiland Vasvery is a senior and is the center on the Lockport Township football team.

What do you think about last week's 31-21 loss to Naperville Central? 
"I think that we've just got to clean up our game. We made a bunch of mistakes and had four turnovers that cost us."

You have to win two out of the next three games to guarantee getting in the playoffs. How are you approaching that?
"We are starting with a tough matchup (this Friday at 7 PM at top-ranked Lincoln-Way East). But my teammates and I think about it as, 'What an opportunity against a great team.' Our record doesn't show how good we are. If we clean up our mistakes, we can be pretty hard to beat."

How long have you been playing football?
"I've been playing for a dozen years now since I was five or six years old. I started playing for the Homer Stallions but then I played my last three years of youth football for the Junior Porters. We won a championship there in my seventh grade year."

How did you start playing center?
"All of my years I've played on the offensive line. In high school I started playing center. I learned the technique and the skill of how to snap. Mentally it's a challenging position. I have to go up and make my calls as to what I see on the defense and there's a lot to it." 

Do you play any other sports?
"Yes. I wrestled my freshman year but not after that. I played water polo all three years in high school, the past two on the varsity. It's been fun but football is my sport."

What is it about the game of football that makes it the sport for you?
"Just the physical aspect. Plus, you're with your team and it's just you and your guys out there. Win or lose, you give 100 percent effort and you see improvement throughout the whole process. By the end, you're a different player, a different person than you used to be." 

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"He always has his motivational speeches. He tends to tie it in with your life after football. He reminds you that even when you're done playing the game you can apply aspects of the game to your entire life."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I'll listen to pretty much anything. But I lean toward country music, especially country music from 20 to 40 years ago. But before the games I listen to rock music. My song before a game is Rooster by Alice and Chains. But I also listen to motivational podcasts on the bus rides to the away games."

Do you plan to play football in college?
"No. I'm graduating early in December and I don't plan to go to college. Plus, I'm 5-foot-10 and 230 pounds, so I don't have the size to play my position in college. So I just want to get done with school, join a union, and do a trade. I'll probably go into pipefitting or HVAC."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"There are a lot of good things. The students, the faculty, and the community are all brought together by sports, especially football. Assistant coach (Mark) Carmen always says that football starts off the school year and there's a lot of pride for not only football but all the sports at Lockport."
 

By Randy Whalen

Kevin Hippner is a senior defensive end for the Lockport Township football team and a leader on the Porters' defense. 

What are your thoughts on last week's 31-20 loss to Naperville North? 
"I thought on defense that we played an excellent game in the first half. But in the second half, Naperville North got the wind and has a great quarterback (Jacob Bell) and receivers. Given the circumstances, they took advantage of it."

How long have you been playing football?
"I've been playing since third grade, so about nine years. I played on the Homer Stallions as an offensive tackle and a defensive end. I stuck to defensive end, although I did play volleyball on the JV team as a freshman. But I haven't played since."

What made you continue to play defense?
"Coach (Andy) Satunas was the defensive end coach for the Stallions and taught me many basics, such as the stance. He helped set a good foundation for me and my future. I liked that a lot better than playing on the offensive line but I played both through eighth grade. In high school, I decided to stick with defense and it proved to be a good decision." 

You were a freshman when the Porters won the Class 8A State Title. Where were you for the championship game?
"As a freshman, I got pulled up for the playoffs and was a tackling player. I learned from my defensive line coach, Coach (Peter) Kishline, who took me under his wing. I've been told that I play like Cole Silzer (now at Eastern Illinois University). It was great to be on the sideline in the title game and watch us kick butt."

Speaking of coaches, what have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"He's a great role model. The best thing that I've learned from him is my composure. He knows a lot about the game so I'm glad to have him as my coach and learn from him. You can tell that he's played and coached for a long time."

We're now entering the last half of the season. So what opponent are you looking forward to playing the most?  
"Lincoln-Way East. They're a great team so it would be amazing to upset them. They have a great quarterback (junior Jonas Williams), so I hope I can get a sack in on him."

There are more to come, but what is your favorite memory as a high school player so far?
"Winning against Naperville Central last year in overtime (31-24 on September 8. We tied the game (on a 49-yard field goal) at the end of regulation and shut them down in overtime. That was the first time that I was in a high school overtime game and it felt nice to take that deep breath and be like 'we won.'"

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I like 80s music, such as Def Leppard and Motley Crue. All the hair metal bands are pretty cool and get me pumped up before the games.
'Kickstart My Heart' by Motley Crue is always my go-to pregame song."

Do you plan to play football in college?
"Yes, I've committed to The University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, which is in the WIAC (Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). I committed there in late July. It's about an hour east of Minneapolis. I want to be a doctor and the university is in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and there are only three universities in the USA like that. I also loved the campus and the coaches. They are building something special there."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"I'd say the connections between all the sports. I'm proud to play sports at Lockport. I feel proud to be an athlete in a school with high expectations."

By Randy Whalen

Tyler Pospisil is a senior running back for the Lockport Township football team. He's scored six touchdowns in the past three weeks and has 302 yards rushing this season. 

How big was last week's 21-7 win at Waubonsie Valley? 
"Coming out and knowing that it was their Homecoming and they had lost the week before, we knew we had to come out and get the momentum. I think we showed if we have the run game stopped, we can pass too and have an even offense."

The last couple of weeks, you've filled in as a starter for Johnny Wesolowski, who's been out with an injury. How supportive has he been through this time?
"He's been very supportive and I love him for that. He's had a positive attitude and he really does help me. If I mess up, he's going to point it out and point me in the right direction. It's almost like he's an assistant coach out on the field."

Coach George Czart said he loves watching you and that you remind him of Chuck Muncie, Ricky Bell, Herschel Walker, and Earl Campbell. What can you say about your bruising style of play?
"I weigh between 205-210 and I've always been a bigger kid. I played linebacker and that physical style transferred over to me running the ball. You just have to exert yourself. As (assistant coach Dave) Pammer says, 'It's a war of attrition.'"

Do you play any other sports?
"I have been running track and field for the past two years. If my body is feeling up to it, I think I will run it again this spring. It keeps me in shape. I run the 100 and 200 in the outdoor season only. Otherwise, I just focus on football."

What is it about the game of football that makes it the sport for you?
"The fact that at any given moment the game can shift. You can be down by two touchdowns but something can shift everything back in your favor. It's also one of the greatest team sports ever. It's 11 on 11 and everyone has to do their job and support each other."

It's now week No. 5, the midway point of the season. So what opponent are you looking forward to playing the most for the rest of the season?  
"I feel we haven't played the hardest of our competition yet. So I'm looking forward to playing Lincoln-Way East and Homewood-Flossmoor the most. Lincoln-Way East has some stars, like (junior quarterback) Jonas Williams. It's always tough and we've got to be able to stay in it."

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"Mostly just how to become a great fundamental football player. Also to look someone in the eye when talking to them and be respectful, especially to other opponents and coaches. He helps set us up for success and to be good people."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I listen to a lot of house music. It's like European funk. I also like to listen to good, old 80s music. Motley Crue, AC/DC, and Metallica are good artists that I listen to before games.

Do you plan to play football in college?
"That's always been the goal for me. If I can keep coming on the track that I am now, I certainly think so. Playing football is something to look forward to every day and gives me confidence in myself."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"Just all the support from the coaches. They're always focused on what's best for the team so we can focus on ourselves. I also have to give a shoutout to Coach (Mark) Carmen. He's been a coach for so many years and I can only imagine all the lives that he's touched. All our coaches are there for us."
 

By Randy Whalen

Payton Roberson is a senior linebacker and running back for the Lockport Township football team. He's been a defensive starter and one of the Porters' top defensive players for the past two seasons.

The team looked great in last week's 41-14 win at Neuqua Valley. How did you bounce back from the previous week's loss?
"That was a big W. We're starting to develop a certain swagger. We know we can stop the run and the defense is committed to being the best we can be on Friday nights."

When did you start playing football? 
"I started playing 13 years ago already. I played as soon as I could. I jumped up with the older kids and played tackle right away. My dad (Jimmy) is a big fan of football and I was named after Walter Payton. My dad also likes wrestling, the contact sports. I've been riding with it ever since."

Your older brother, Keegan was a wide receiver on the 2021 State Champion team and is currently wrestling at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. What did he mean to you growing up?
"Keegan gave me someone to look up to with all the hard work that he put in. I was able to be on the sideline for the title game and he showed me what it takes to be a state champion."  

So what sport do you like better, football or wrestling?
"Football. I like the contact. I also love the feeling of pregame. I actually threw up before our opening game against Plainfield North. The adrenaline I feel is nuts. As soon as I walk out on the field it feels like I'm Superman. Plus, there's just a great atmosphere on those nights." 

So are you going to wrestle this season?
"I'm not 100 percent sure yet. My love for the sport has never left me. It's just not easy to combine that with football. Playing football, I'm sore until Thursday. I can barely move but I love it. So we'll see. about wrestling."

You carried the ball against Neuqua Valley and were a lead blocker numerous times for Tyler Pospisil, who scored four touchdowns. How much do you like running the ball?
"We do a double back set where I'm able to lead block or get the ball. I can run the ball. I was a both running back and middle linebacker for the Homer Stallions and later the Junior Porters. So I can play both sides of the ball and I really enjoy blocking for Pops." 

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"He's been a great mentor to me. He helps me be confident in myself. He says as long as I'm going 100 percent, I can never be wrong.""

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I enjoy every type of music. I don't listen to just rap, I also like some country music. I also like some early 2000s hip-hop music. Before games, I like to listen to Boosie Badazz. His music gets me pumped up."

Do you plan to play football in college?
"Yes. I'm just not 100 percent sure where yet. I'm just staying patient and seeing how the season goes. If I can pick up more offers, I can expand my choices."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"Just the guys that I get to play football with. All my boys that I love. Lockport has a tough culture. Things aren't given to you, you have to earn it. We have one of the toughest schedules in the state and that's how we prepare. It's that tough attitude that makes you a better person."
 

By Randy Whalen

Johnny Wesolowski is a senior and the top running back for the Lockport Township football team this fall. In the Porters' first two games, he's rushed for over 300 yards and scored six touchdowns.

What must you do to rebound from the disappointing 22-21 loss to Wheaton North last week?
"We have to learn from it and regroup as a team. We have to come out on all cylinders, move on, and hopefully bounce back this week against Neuqua Valley."

When did you start playing football? 
"I started playing over 10 years ago for the Homer Stallions when I was 6 or 7. I've always played tackle football, never flag. First for the Stallions and then at Lockport."

Don't you have family ties to Lockport football?
"Yes. My uncle David Sliwa, played on both the 2002 and 2003 Lockport Class 8A state title teams at running back. We talk about it and we played backyard football together. He comes to the games now." 

Did you play any other sports?
"I ran track as a freshman and sophomore. But not last year. I plan to do it again this coming spring though. I do the short sprints, the 100, 200, and 400. Plus I do some of the relays and the hurdles. But you can't beat football."

What is it about football that makes it the sport for you?
"Football is the greatest team sport. You have to trust everybody and everyone has to work together. I also love the physicality. There are so many aspects that make it so much fun. There's so much that goes into it."

You're a humble guy and give a lot of credit to the offensive line for your success so far this season. But what is it that's made you so successful in the first two games this season?
"It was just a lot of hard work in the offseason. As soon as last season was over some other guys and I went to work out together and kept it up. But the O-Line helps too. It's just been great together."

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"What have I not learned? I've learned so much. Just his pregame speeches. They get us going for the games, He holds everyone accountable, including himself. He's just great to be around."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"More recently I've listened to calm, relaxing music. Just an hour or two before the game. That gets me more relaxed and gets me where I need to be. I was so fired up in Week One that I threw up before the game. So this has helped me relax." 

Do you plan to play football in college?
"Yes, 100 percent. I'm just blessed to have that opportunity and I'm thankful that I've talked to a handful of schools already. I've gone on a couple of visits. I played some middle linebacker as a freshman so I'd be willing to switch if need be. I just love to play football."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"The culture. It's like a football town. Everyone comes to the games and the stands get filled. There's nothing like it. Lockport is a sports town and that's just awesome."

By Randy Whalen

John Sherrod lll is a senior and a returning starter at linebacker for the Lockport Township football team this fall. His sack capped the Porters' 28- 21 opening-week win over Plainfield North.  

How big was it to get the victory in Week One?
"We always want to start the season with a win. It's a step in the right direction. We did a good job stopping the run but we have to do a better job defending the passing game."

How did you start playing football? 
"I started when I was about six with the Joliet Ravens. I was going to go up to the tackle football level right away and that summer I got scared and quit. I was going to play with the bigger guys and I couldn't handle it. But I begged my dad to let me play the next year and he did. My dad (John Sherrod ll) played football at Romeoville. So I've always grown up around football."

Did you play any other sports?
"I used to play baseball, mostly T-Ball, as a kid. But that was about it."

What is it about football that makes it the sport for you?
"Just the environment. Being around the guys that I grew up with. But also being out in front of the crowd and having fun."

Have you always played defense?
"Well, I was a wing-back/H-back my freshman year. But now I'm just defense. I get a lot of reps as the inside/edge linebacker. But if they wanted to put me in on offense, I'd like to think that is something that I could do and help with."

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"Coach Czart says to 'control what you can control.' He always implements life lessons and things into his speeches. He says to 'flow like water between cracks' You have to flow like water but still be present."

Is there an opponent that you're looking forward to playing the most this season?.
"I'd say Naperville North (on Friday, Sept. 27 at home). There's a lot of talk about them having some transfers that have come in this season. Also, I've never played against them before so I think it'll be a good game."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"I like to listen to a lot of things. Rap, some R&B, and country music here and there. But right before a game I get calm and in a zone and listen to Lauryn Hill." 

Do you plan to play football in college?
"Yes, 100 percent. I'm looking at some schools that are recruiting me. I just want to narrow it down and close in on a couple of schools by the end of the season. It doesn't matter where the school is but I would like it to be close enough where my family can see me play."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"I like the community. There's a great group of people that come out and support the team. It's great to be in a community that is tight like that."
 

By Randy Whalen

Conley Pfeiffer is a senior in his second varsity season. He is entering his first season as the starting quarterback for the Lockport Township football team this fall.

You take over as quarterback this season. What is the goal for you and the team?
"The simple goal is to improve. Team-wise, the first goal is to make the playoffs. Then to go on and win the state."

What's it going to take to do that? 
"We're going to have a good defense and a lot of returning guys on that side of the ball. We're going to have a lot of confidence going into the season. A lot of games will come down to one score and one drive and we have to come out on the right end of it"

How long have you been playing football?
"I started young. My parents (Jim and Karen) started me early in flag football. I've been involved with my brothers too and played for the Homer Stallions through eighth grade."

Do you play any other sports and if not, what is it about football that makes it the sport for you?
"I played baseball at the start of high school. But I only played my freshmen year and now I concentrate on football. I just like the aspect of it being a team game. Just build on the team and have it be that competitive atmosphere where you lean on your teammates and they lean on you."

You are the last of three brothers, and you have all played quarterback for the Porters. Riley was the varsity quarterback in the shortened 2021 spring season, and Brady was the quarterback of the 2022 team. Plus, your dad, Jim, was an assistant coach at Lockport for the first two Class 8A state title football teams in 2002 and 2003. What influence did they have on you?
"Yes, I think my dad misses coaching. But it's great that I can talk to my dad and my brothers about football. I can lean on them for advice. so it's great to have that football connection. I have a younger sister too. Kali, who is currently at Homer Junior High."

What have you learned from Lockport football coach, George Czart?
"I've learned a lot. He's been through succesful runs and he's made me more competitive. Just hearing the speeches he gives has made me more of a competitive football player."

Drew Gallagher was the starting quarterback last year. So you didn't get to play a lot. But did you have a highlight moment when you did?
"Yes, just being able to come in at the end of the Homewood-Flossmoor game (a 34-27 loss on Oct. 20, 2023) and come through for the most part. (He scored from a yard out with 1:55 to play in the game and, following an onside kick recovery, Pfieffer completed three straight passes. But the last of them, an 8-yard gain down to the 19, was fumbled and H-F recovered with 1:15 remaining and ran out the clock). It was my first time playing in a close game and I knew I had to make some plays."

What is your favorite music to listen to?
"It depends on my mood. Before a game, I listen to a lot of rap and hip-hop. But I also listen to a lot of country music during the summer. There's a lot of variety."

Do you plan to play football in college?
"I'm 100 percent open to playing in college, but I'm yet to have much contact with any college coaches which is understandable with my lack of varsity film. If I were to have a good year and get the opportunity to play at the next level, it would most likely be at quarterback, but if I were recruited for something else there wouldn't be a problem."

What is the best thing about being an athlete at Lockport?
"It's an honor to play a sport at Lockport. Athletics is a big part of our school, especially football. It's a good feeling if our football team starts well and has a good year. For Lockport, that's always a big deal."

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