Wynston a ton
Russell returns fumble 50 yards for TD to lift H-F past L-WWest
Senior defensive back Wynston Russell also plays running back for Homewood-Flossmoor, but he rarely gets time on the offensive side of the ball.
So, Friday night when Russell scooped up a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter, hewas eager to show off his running abilities.
“I’ve been waiting to carry the ball my whole high school career,” Russell said. “When I got it, I just told myself nobody’s going to stop me. Nobody stopped me.”
Russell returned the fumble 50 yards for the go-ahead touchdown as host H-F rallied for a 28-14 SouthWest Suburban win over Lincoln-WayWest.
“That’s the first touchdown of my high school career,” Russell said. “Playing defenseandgetting stops is fun, but there’s nothing like scoring a touchdown. Being in the end zone with your teammates is an amazing feeling.”
Russell’s big play was the first of three straight turnovers created byH-F(5-0, 3-0) to close out the win.
Bryce Dorsey recovered a fumble on the next possession by the Warriors (3-2, 2-2), and LaVoise McCoy’s interception with 3:30 left in the game sealed the victory.
With his team down 7-0, H-F coach Craig Buzea elected to gamble on the first possession of the third quarter, going for it on fourth-and-4 from the Vikings 36.
Dominick Jones hit Will Pauling for a 64-yard TD to cut the deficit to 7-6.
“Whencoach trusts us tomake a play in that situation, we really want to make a play,” Pauling said. “That gave us so much momentum and really got us fired up.”
Buzea felt his team needed a spark.
“Our possessions were being limited by what Lincoln-Way West was able to do running the clock,” he said. “A sophomore (Pauling) came through with a big play for us.”
Leon Tanna, who rushed for 161 yards on 26 carries, gave H-F a 14-7 lead with a 3-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion run.
Lincoln-Way West tied it when Greyson Grimm threw a 51-yardTDpass toNick Gula on a flea flicker.
Grimm completed 9 of 18 passes for 154 yards and ran for a 3-yardTDfor theWarriors, while Caleb Marconi gained 118 yards on 23 carries.
Jones completed 7 of 14 passes for 133 yards to lead H-F.
“It’s been a long time since we were sitting with zero points that late, butwe didn’t screamor yell,” Buzea said. “We had to get back to whatwe dowell.”
SteveMillar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.