Will Cook County News

By Claude Martinez.

Blue Island – Seventy-five years in the making led to a memorable night for Dwight D. Eisenhower High School.

The school celebrated its 75th anniversary on Friday, October 17. Alumni from as far back as the Class of 1960 were in attendance. It was also Senior Night, where 49 seniors were honored across multiple athletic programs, with 22 of them from the football program alone.

The Eisenhower Cardinals (4-4, 3-2 SSC Red) were ready to take on the Oak Lawn Community High School Spartans (7-1, 4-1 SSC Red) in a game that went down to the final buzzer.

Eisenhower received the ball, and a few plays later, on a quarterback keeper, Demarion Hampton rushed for 67 yards down the sideline, putting the Cardinals on the board.

Oak Lawn responded. Jayden Schlosser made a few big runs, and when the ball was at the 3-yard line, he punched it in.

The Cardinals had a big play of their own when Hampton found Larnell Moore down the sideline for 39 yards, and then took the draw up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown.

In the second quarter, the Spartans gave the ball to Alex Soto, who was popped but fell into the endzone, taking the lead back at 16–14.

Later Hampton threw a sidearm pass to Caevon Newsome for 15 yards and reclaimed the lead.

Making a play for the Spartans was Daniel Strelow, who pitched the ball back to Soto, who then found Luke Mahoney in the endzone with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

There was still enough time for Ike to respond.

The Cardinals drove the ball all the way down to the 5-yard line. Hampton hit Moore with 17 seconds left.

At halftime, the score was Eisenhower 28, Oak Lawn 24.

The third quarter saw only a single score. Isaiah Perez set up the play with a run all the way down to the 1-yard line, allowing Soto to punch it in for another rushing touchdown a few plays later.

Heading into the fourth quarter: Oak Lawn 30, Eisenhower 28.

Once again, Hampton made an athletic move, finding his way into the endzone on a 46-yard scramble, making something out of nothing for a score.

There was 8:06 left on the clock.

Oak Lawn wanted to ice the game, but they needed to chew some time. They successfully drove down the field and with 51 seconds remaining Jefferson Le fought into the endzone on a 5-yard rush, tying the game at 36.

All night, Oak Lawn had avoided extra point kicks.

The pressure was high, but not too high for Alex Lewandrowski, who kicked it square through the uprights, giving Oak Lawn a one-point lead and earning the WCCN Play of the Game.

But the game wasn’t over yet.

With 51 seconds left, the Cardinals went on a final drive, getting all the way down to the 11-yard line.

On fourth down with 4.5 seconds left, Hampton looked right, then left, scrambled, and threw on the run to Moore. But an offensive holding call negated the play.

The Spartans declined the penalty, ending the game.

FINAL: Oak Lawn 37, Eisenhower 36

The WCCN Player of the Game was senior running back Alex Soto, who scored 3 touchdowns. He couldn’t have done it alone, and he gave credit to his offensive line and quarterback Daniel Strelow.

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Oak Lawn will close the season out at Reavis High school on Friday October 24 where they hope to lock in a great playoff seed.

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