Health & Fitness
Oak Forest Football: Defense and Depth Key in Bengals 28-7 Victory Over Rich Central
Oak Forest Bengals start the season at 2-0 behind the defense and backfield depth
With just over 6 minutes left in the first half at Bengal Field on Friday the score was 0-0. Both defenses were dominating. Then Bengal QB Tom Zale (#7) broke loose and outran the Olympian’s defense for a 65 yard touchdown. The lead held up until just seconds to go before halftime, when Olympian WR Arthur Sutton (#24) got behind the Bengal defense for a 38 yard score to give Rich Central a 7-6 lead at the half. Zale led the Bengals in the first half with 122 yards on 10 carries. However, a few plays after the Bengals started the second half receiving the kickoff, Zale injured his ankle. Earlier on the drive FB Matt Barry (#31) also came out of the game. That set the stage for backup QB Nick Ciufia (#15) and backup FB Ben Santiago (#23) to take over. Ciufia called his own number at the end of that drive and scored from the 4. Later in the 4th quarter Santiago broke a long 40+ yard run and Ciufia scored from the 6. Late in the 4th quarter after a Blake Waller (#10) interception Santiago scored from inside the 10 to give the Bengals their 28-7 lead.
Turnovers and penalties took their toll on Rich Central. In the first half they had 2 touchdowns called back due to penalties. Rich Central was also called twice for interference on punts as Bengal returner Corey Brent (#3) got hit as he tried to field punts. CB Kyle Czeszewski (#11) had an interception and LB Rondell Saddler (#6) scooped up a fumble and would have scored if he had been able to stay on his feet.
Besides his interception, Punter Blake Waller (#10) had 2 great punts, the first one going 50 yards, and the second pinning Rich Central inside their 10. Two of Waller’s kickoffs also pinned Rich Central inside their 10 yard line. Tyler Usterbowski (#2) broke away for two long outside runs as the Bengals patented rushing game was in full force. For the second game in a row, in the 4th quarter the Bengals superior stamina was key. Next week the Bengals travel to district rival Bremen.
