One TD Was Enough for Wheaton Warrenville to Win Friday Night's Playoff Game

Breaking it Down: The Tigers only scored seven points Friday night, but they were the only points needed to advance to the next round of the high school playoffs.

Early in the second quarter, 's Nick Campos hammered a 56-yard punt down to the Lincoln-Way East 3-yard line. The Tigers forced the Griffins to a three-and-out, and after a short punt took possession at the Lincoln-Way East 24-yard line.

On third-down-and-three on the 17-yard line, Wheaton Warrenville South quarterback Thaddeus Armstrong connected with Sam Prete on a touchdown pass. After the successful PAT from Tyler Cook, the Tigers led 7-0. That would conclude the scoring on the night.

Lincoln-Way East (10-1) had William Will attempt 38-yard and 46-yard field goals in the first quarter, but he was unsuccessful on both attempts.

The Griffins had one final drive left in them in the final 22.9 seconds, but quarterback Blake Winkler's heave to Jay Yancy in double coverage fell incomplete as the buzzer sounded.

Wheaton Warrenville South improved to 8-3.

Patch's MVP: Wheaton Warrenville South defensive end Jack Lipinsky sacked Winkler three times as the Tigers constantly pressured the Griffins all evening.

Wheaton-Warrenville South Stat Pack: Sam Prete caught five passes for 71 yards, Dan Vitale had 21 rushing yards on 17 carries, and Thaddeus Armstrong completed 7-of-11 passes for 80 yards and also tossed the game-winning touchdown to Prete.

Lincoln-Way East Stat Pack: Blake Anders led the team with 36 rushing yards on 7 carries, followed by Tyler Starke who had 28 yards on 8 carries and Kevin Duffin who collected 21 yards on 7 carries. Blake Winkler completed 13-of-17 passes for 130 yards. J.J. Robertson caught 5 passes for 25 yards, Jay Yancy had 3 catches for 41 yards and Justin Corbett collected a pair of catches for 21 yards.

Quotable I: Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch on one touchdown being enough to win: "We had one shot. We made the best of one shot and that's the way high school football goes sometimes."

Quotable II: Wheaton Warrenville South defensive end Jack Lipinsky on what it took to shut out a high-powered offense: "Our secondary did an amazing job. They shut their receivers down and they had nothing on our DBs."

What's Next: Wheaton Warrenville South will play Oswego or East St. Louis in the Class 7A quarterfinals next weekend. The date and time of the contest will be determined as Oswego and East St. Louis will play Saturday at 3 p.m.