This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Class 7A Football Playoffs: L-W East Season Stopped Cold by Two-Time Defending Champ

Wheaton Warrenville South 7, Lincoln-Way East 0: Griffins get the ball into the red zone but not the end zone, as they lose for the first time this season and exit the postseason.

Breaking It Down: ’s mission of running the table and winning a Class 7A state football championship were halted Friday night by the team that has won back-to-back state titles. Eighth-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South traveled to Frankfort and upset the top-seeded Griffins by a 7-0 score.

Lincoln-Way East’s William Will missed field-goal attempts of 38 and 46 yards in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, Wheaton Warrenville South's Nick Campos hammered a 56-yard punt down to the Lincoln-Way East 3-yard line. The Tigers forced the Griffins into a three-and-out, and after a short punt by East, the Tigers took possession at the Lincoln-Way East 24-yard line. On third-and-3 from the 17-yard line, Wheaton Warrenville South quarterback Thaddeus Armstrong connected with Sam Prete on a touchdown pass. After the successful point-after kick by Tyler Cook, the visitors led 7-0.

The defensive struggle continued throughout the night, as Lincoln-Way East held Northwestern-bound running back Dan Vitale to a mere 21 yards on 17 carries.

Find out what's happening in Frankfortwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Griffins had one final drive left in them in the final 22.9 seconds of regulation. But quarterback Blake Winkler's heave intended for Jay Yancy in double coverage fell incomplete as the buzzer sounded.

Patch's MVP: Wheaton Warrenville South defensive end Jack Lipinsky sacked Winkler three times as the Tigers constantly pressured the Griffins’ QB all night.

Find out what's happening in Frankfortwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wheaton Warrenville South Stat Pack: Sam Prete caught five passes for 71 yards; Dan Vitale had 21 rushing yards on 17 carries; and Thaddeus Armstrong was 7-of-11 passing for 80 yards and tossed the game-winning touchdown to Prete.

Lincoln-Way East Stat Pack: Blake Anders led the team with 36 rushing yards on seven carries; Tyler Starke had 28 yards on eight carries; Kevin Duffin had 21 yards on seven carries. Winkler was 13-of-17 passing for 130 yards; J.J. Robertson caught five passes for 25 yards; Jay Yancy had three catches for 41 yards; and Justin Corbett had a pair of catches for 21 yards.

Quotable I: Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar on his team’s missed opportunities: "We felt we controlled the first half everywhere but the scoreboard. That's why they're the two-time defending state champions."

Quotable II: Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch on one touchdown being enough to win: "We had one shot. We made the best of one shot, and that's the way high school football goes sometimes."

Quotable III: Wheaton Warrenville South defensive end Jack Lipinsky on what it took to shut out a high-powered offense: "Our secondary did an amazing job. They shut their receivers down and they had nothing on our DBs."

Team Records: Lincoln-Way East finishes at 10-1. Wheaton Warrenville South improves to 8-3.

What's Next: Wheaton Warrenville South will play Oswego or East St. Louis in the Class 7A quarterfinals next weekend. Oswego and East St. Louis will play Saturday at 3 p.m. Lincoln-Way East has been eliminated from the postseason.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?