Phoenix fail at bringing down Baldwin
Curie offensive lineman Alfredo Camargo lays it out plain and simple: ‘‘They are really strict with grades here, so we lose guys every week. We never know who’s going to play. Today, we had just one extra man to rotate in.’’
The Condors’ situation on the offensive line may be fluid, but the group was rock solid Thursday at Rockne Stadium, helping senior running back Chris Baldwin score three touchdowns in a 35-18 win over Illini Red Bird conference rival North Lawndale.
‘‘It’s great blocking for him — a lot of fun,’’ Camargo said. ‘‘It feels good to see him going down the field, knowing he’s down there because of us. If we don’t do our jobs, he doesn’t get noticed.’’
Baldwin is a powerful back. The Phoenix brought him to the ground on about half of his runs; the rest of those plays were whistled dead while he was still standing but his forward momentum had finally been stopped. He rushed 24 times for 198 yards and scored touchdowns of 13, 41 and two yards.
‘‘I’m a balanced running back — I have speed and power,’’ Baldwin said. ‘‘My line opened up some great holes for me.’’
Curie (6-1, 3-1) is considered the third-best team in the Public League, behind Simeon and Phillips. Back in Week 5, the Condors led Simeon by 14 points at the half before losing 33-21.
‘‘I didn’t have a game like this against Simeon,’’ Baldwin said. ‘‘Coach knew they were going to try and kill me, so we spread the ball out a lot more.’’
The Condors only attempted five passes Thursday. Anthony Watson was their other threat on the ground, finishing with six car- ries for 43 yards.
‘‘To be honest, our offense struggled with the turnovers and penalties,’’ Curie coach Jay McDonagh said. ‘‘But the offensive line played well, as they have all year. We can’t have the penalties and the turnovers, though, especially with the way we play.’’
North Lawndale (2-5, 1-3) is much better then its record indi- cates. The Phoenix beat Rich East in Week 1, then lost hard-fought games at Sycamore and Quincy.
‘‘Right now, we have to find a way to finish games — that’s it,’’ North Lawndale coach Zontavius Johnson said.
Senior quarter back Wendell Anderson was spectacular at times, finishing 8-for-18 passing for 287 yards and three touchdowns.
‘‘He’s probably the best quarterback in the city,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘We’ve played the toughest schedule in our conference. He put up big numbers at Sycamore and Quincy. He’s over 2,300 yards already.’’
Anderson is an academic qualifier. Johnson said several FCS colleges are interested in him.
Anderson and wide receiver Daniel Pickens were a deadly com- bination Thursday, connecting for touchdowns of 62 and 75 yards.
North Lawndale, the smallest school in the conference, just couldn’t get anything going on the ground. The Phoenix finished with minus-6 rushing yards.
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