Football: Lemont Overpowers Oak Forest

Breaking It Down: Lemont used three quarters of shutout defense on top of some big passing plays to topple Oak Forest 41-13 on Friday night. The Bengals failed to get their patented ground attack going against a stout Indian defensive line. Lemont's defense, which came into the game only having surrendered 32 points in eight games, forced the Bengals to a three-and-out on the first series. Lemont then marched into Bengal territory before senior quarterback Damon Aleman (6-for-10, 161 yards, 3 touchdowns) connected with classmate Tyler Jay for a 38-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

Kicker Josh Young’s kickoff was not fielded properly by Oak Forest and a live-ball scenario ensued. Lemont recovered and three plays later the Indians were on the board again courtesy of Joe Hehir’s 34-yard field goal. The kicking miscue came much to the dismay of Bengal coach Brian McDonough.

“We had poor communication on the kickoff and we’re not really a come-from-behind team, with our running game," he said. "Who likes to play from behind.”

Aleman hit Jay for a 73-yard touchdown in the second quarter to pad Lemont’s lead. As the high-powered Bengal offense failed to get anything going (23 plays, 48 yards in the first half), the defense grew increasingly tired. The Indians took a 19-0 lead into half and moved that to 27-0 when fullback Christos Giatras came powering home from 15 yards out on Lemont’s opening possession of the third quarter.

Oak Forest quarterback Tyler Zale, who was harassed into throwing four interceptions, scored from a yard out after teammate Matt Barry had a 3-yard run late in the fourth quarter to account for the Bengals' scoring.

Patch’s MVP: Lemont's Damon Aleman. The Indians offense revolves around hard, physical running. Aleman made some plays with his arm that hurt the Bengal defense. That, in turn, gave standout tailback Mike Anzalone (22 carries, 99 yards) plenty of room to operate.

Lemont Stat Pack: Aleman only completed six passes but hooked up with teammate Tyler Jay awfully well to move the Indians to a perfect record.

Oak Forest Stat Pack: Running back Tevin Coleman may be one of the best players in Illinois, but he was largely kept in check with the Bengal offensive line failing to muster any sort of push. Coleman had six touches. He threw an incomplete pass, had four rushes for 28 yards and caught a pass for 8 yards.

Quotable: Lemont offensive lineman Carl Chanda: “Our line play was excellent, both offense and defense. The play of the line is something we are always focusing on. We’re really trying to improve and that showed.”

Team Records: Lemont finishes the regular season at 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the South Suburban Blue, good for undisputed possession of first place. Oak Forest ends up regular-season play at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

Scores of Interest: Evergreen Park 42, Reavis 7; Providence 24, Mount Carmel 18; Marist 56, Joliet Catholic Academy 51; Richards 48, Argo 12; Tinley Park 34, Bremen 29. For more scores, visit IHSA ScoreZone.