Zajeski: A Devil on wheels

November 8, 2008
BY RON KREMER -- HERALD NEWS

HINSDALE -- On his first carry since Week 7, Hinsdale Central's Rich Zajeski picked up a block from teammate Collin Watkins, burst through a hole at the line of scrimmage and zipped 62 yards for a touchdown.

Zajeski confirmed what in the back of his mind he thought he already knew -- that he was fully recovered from an ankle injury that sent him to the sidelines nearly a month ago. He stunned Bolingbrook's vaunted defense.

And he was only getting warmed up.

Zajeski went on to net 206 yards rushing and receiving in Hinsdale Central's shocking 35-14 victory over previously unbeaten Bolingbrook in an 8A high school football playoff second-round game on Friday night. He also scored on a 67-yard run as the Red Devils jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first 12:20.

"Quite honestly, I set a goal for myself to come back big this week," said Zajeski, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior running back. "I knew if I prepared myself correctly and took care of myself this week that I could have a pretty big game against these guys.

"I always expect to do that -- before the injury I had some success. I was just planning to continue it this week, no matter what the defense was like."

Zajeski rushed for a game-high 178 yards on 12 carries. He also caught three passes for 28 yards.

He scored on Hinsdale Central's second play from scrimmage. Then, after the Red Devils stopped Bolingbrook's Brad Geever on a fourth-and-1 sneak at the 36, Zajeski carried twice on a 64-yard scoring drive. Included was a 29-yard scamper to the 1. Jake Knowles plunged into the end zone on the next play to make it 14-0.

After Bolingbrook was forced to punt, Zajeski slid through a crease, cut to his right and turned on the jets. He outran the Radiers' secondary on a 67-yard TD run that upped the count to 21-0.

"If the ankle is good enough to get past those kids, it's good enough for me," Zajeski said. "I hurt it on homecoming weekend. It was a high ankle sprain -- on my left ankle. It feels pretty close to 100 percent now. I actually could have played last week but we got off to such a good start against Downers South (in a 46-12 victory) that the coach made a decision to hold me out. But it feels good to be back now."

Hinsdale Central (9-2) moves on to next weekend's 8A quarterfinals. The Red Devils will face Brother Rice (8-2) or Belleville East (7-3). The Crusaders play the Lancers at 7 p.m. today in Belleville.

Bolingbrook had a 10-game win streak snapped despite the passing of Geever. The Raiders (10-1) weren't able to run the ball early against Hinsdale Central's big defensive front and then were forced by the circumstances to play a catchup brand of football. Geever, a 6-3 junior quarterback who was plucked out of gym class a year ago, completed 18-of-26 for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

His 34-yard scoring pass to Anthony Greene pulled Bolingbrook within 21-7 with 3:13 left in the first half. The Raiders' hopes of mounting a comeback were spurred on momentarily by the knowledge they would receive the second-half kickoff. John Whitelaw all but dashed those hopes on Hinsdale Central's final possession of the first half.

The Red Devils' shifty quarterback directed a 5-play, 69-yard scoring drive, the ball in his hands on every one of those plays. He completed passes of 7 yards to Mick Culligan and 12 yards to David Banasiak. He also ran from a shotgun spread formation three times for 34 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left.

Hinsdale Central extended its lead to 35-7 on Whitelaw's 8-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Geever later threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Chris Williams. Alfonzo Sylvester led Bolingbrook receivers with seven catches for 72 yards. Williams finished with five catches for 89 yards.

The Raiders' defense took a hit when safety Alex McNulty left with an arm injury early in the first half.

"It was the same thing -- they got 21 on Downers Grove right off the bat, too," Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow said. "We were both in the same boat. They're a great team. Are they -- whatever it is, I can't do the math -- 21 points better than us? I don't know. But, hey, they beat our butts tonight. So, congratulations. That's a nice squad."

Ivlow tipped his cap to Zajeski.

"He picked the right week to come back," the Bolingbrook coach said. "You just add another runner in there, that's great, yeah, sure. But, again, that's a great squad, solid in all aspects. I just found out the noseguard is a heavyweight wrestler, too. He was 2-2 and almost made it out of the sectionals last year. We tried to prepare for him all week. We thought he was a nice guy on the defense.

"They just have so many weapons all the way around. It reminded us of some of the other teams we've faced over the years, like Naperville (North) last year. It was shades of the same types of things we saw. This is a team that can do some damage, I really think."

The Raiders will look to do more damage next season. Many of their top playmakers return, the list topped by Geever, Williams and tailback Jemel Martin.

"We set goals in the beginning of the season, and we expect to get there," Ivlow said. "If we don't get there, then it's a failure. People say you're success came too fast. You're going to have it next year. Baloney. We don't use juniors as an excuse. That's our goal, that's what we're seeking, that's what we want -- we want to be the champions every year.

"So, no, we don't use that as an excuse. We've got a lot of guys back. A lot of other teams do, too. We'll just plug away again next year. We're making strides in certain areas. Before Coach (Phil) Acton left, he left us with nice squads. We took over and kind of slowly built up to where we could compete in 8A. Now, we're there. But we're still taking steps. It's seven years, though. I think everybody else is getting better, too."

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