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Healthy Zajeski, Devils speed past Bolingbrook
November 13, 2008
by Jeff Davis

It didn't take long for Hinsdale Central senior running back Rich Zajeski to show how well his high left ankle sprain had healed Friday.

Playing his first game since Oct. 11, Zajeski raced untouched for a 62-yard touchdown run on his first carry on the second play from scrimmage to set the tone for the No. 9-seeded Red Devils' 35-14 victory over previously-unbeaten and top-seeded Bolingbrook in a Class 8A second-round playoff game in Hinsdale.

Hinsdale Central (9-2) scored on its first three possessions for a 21-0 lead against a Bolingbrook defense that was allowing only 9.4 points per game. Zajeski added a 29-yard run to set up Jake Knowles' 1-yard TD run and then broke free untouched again down the right sideline for a 67-yard TD run on the second play of the second quarter.

"I set a goal for myself to come back big this week," the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Zajeski said. "It's hard to sit out and watch. It gave me a lot of motivation today and I came out with a lot of energy.

"We knew we could have some success running the ball against these guys. They came in with their hyped-up defense, but we knew that if we did our thing that we could put up some points. I'm not going to lie, I was a little surprised (we scored) that quick, but nevertheless it felt good."

Hinsdale Central plays at No. 5 seed Brother Rice (9-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, in its first trip to the quarterfinals since four straight appearances from 2002-2005. Brother Rice handed the Red Devils their second straight second-round home playoff loss last season.

"Two years in a row we got knocked out in the second round so just to get past this point is awesome, get over that hump. It just feels so great," said Hinsdale Central senior offensive tackle Collin Watkins, who had a key block on Zajeski's first TD run. "(The key tonight was) just really believing in ourselves, just coming out with our hair on fire because when we do that, we're unstoppable."

Zajeski finished with 174 yards on 11 carries, while quarterback John Whitelaw added 125 yards on 20 carries with two TDs and 60 passing yards behind outstanding blocking from linemen David Kiyosaki, Jim Kallas, Jack Allen, Jack Curatolo and Watkins.

"As you see, (Zajeski is) a major difference maker for us," Hinsdale Central coach Mike DiMatteo said. "Instead of everybody being able to lock down on John and some of our wideouts, now they gotta contend with John and Rich in the same backfield and that's a nice combination for us."

Bolingbrook (10-1) looked to get some momentum with quarterback Brad Geever's 34-yard TD pass to Anthony Greene to cut its deficit to 21-7 with 3:13 left in the second quarter. But Hinsdale Central answered with a five-play, 54-yard drive capped by Whitelaw's 5-yard TD run 56 seconds before halftime that followed his 30-yard run and passes of 12 yards to David Banasiak and seven to Mick Culligan.

Whitelaw added an 8-yard TD run in the third quarter for a 35-7 lead before Geever (18-for-26, 273 yards, 2 TDs, interception) hit Chris Williams with a 29-yard TD pass with 7 minutes, 12 seconds to play.

Bolingbrook forced 34 regular-season turnovers, but had none Friday.

Hinsdale Central's speedy swarm-to-the ball defense sacked Geever six times and forced three turnovers while holding the Raiders to 18 points below their scoring average.

"We drilled really hard and worked on our pass rush this week, made sure we'd get in there and put pressure on the quarterback because they've made some big passing plays in the past," said Hinsdale Central senior lineman Mike Owens, who had six tackles, one for a loss, and two sacks. "On all our tackles, there were like three or four guys. Playoff time, everyone steps up a notch. We really came together as a unit."

Other defensive leaders were Sean O'Grady (10 tackles), Brendan Sullivan (8 tackles, 1 for loss), Mike Rogowski (7 tackles, 2 sacks, blocked punt), Brian Connor (6 tackles), Allan Cameron (2 sacks), Garrett Kawa (forced fumble), Eric Alexander (fumble recovery) and David Lutz (interception).

"Not a lot of people thought we could (win this game). We said it's us against the world and let's make a statement tonight," said Sullivan, who played with a badly-bruised right wrist suffered in practice that he had a cast on earlier in the day. "They were a tough team, but I think that, especially with our defense, we played with an attitude and I like when we play like that."

-- Bill Stone contributed to this story.

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