Oak Forest Bengal Football Video Highlights: Bengals grab a share of Conference crown with 28-20 win at TF South

Oak Forest (8-1) beat TF South on Friday to create a 3-way tie for the South Suburban Blue Conference Title with Lemont and TF South. All 3 schools finished 5-1 in the conference. However with the win and an impressive string of victories, the Bengals earned one of three #1 seeds in the Illinois State 6A playoffs that start on October 26th. The Bengals will open at home on Friday at 7pm, hosting Hinsdale South, who finished their regular season at 6-3.

In the victory over TF South, the defense had one of the more dominant halves in Oak Forest history. The potent TF South offense managed only 6 yards in the first half. Team defense was at its best, as the front four of Brendan Power (#51), Zach Westerhoff (#45), Andrew McCann (#54) and Tom Livingston (#9) didn’t allow many runs past the line of scrimmage. When they did, the linebacking trio of Jimmy Rizzuti (#1), Alec Brown (#55), and Rondell Sandler (#6) made sure it was for very short gains.

Meanwhile Ben Santiago (#23) carried the load, scoring the first Bengal touchdown on a 4th down inside the 10. QB Tom Zale (#7) hit WR Nick Ciufia (#15) in the 2nd quarter for a 6yd TD pass. TF South mounted a charge in the second half, grinding their way down the field 3X for scores, while the Bengals hit the big plays. Nick Ciufia, alternating at QB, ran 64 yards on the Bengals first possession of the 2nd half, setting up a short TD run by Santiago. TF South closed the gap to 28-20 with just under 3 minutes to play, but an interception on 4th down by Jerome Kurtz (#8) ended the threat.

For those without access to Comcast Cable (xfinity), check out this week’s highlights on YouTube. Of course, don’t forget to come out and support your #1 Bengals this Friday night at 7pm at Oak Forest High School as the State Playoffs begin! Congrats to both the players and coaches for a great regular season.