Through 24 minutes of play Benet and St. Viator had dueled to a 7-7 tie in a back-and-forth, physical battle Friday night in Arlington Heights.
The question facing both squads as the second-half kickoff pierced its way through the night air at Morris Field at the Forest View Educational Center was who would step up and assume control in this opening round CCL/ESCC Purple Division bout.
The answer came in the form of two-way Redwings starter Luke Doyle.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior broke open the tie game with a devastating 66-yard punt return that found pay dirt with 1:14 left in the third. He then followed with a 43-yard return which set up a Joe Savino 5-yard TD run with 9:37 left to boost the visitors from Lisle over the host Lions 21-13 to move their record to 3-1 on the season.
“It was a combination of those big plays by Doyle, plus (some) nitty, gritty, punch-them-in-the-mouth determination by our guys,” Benet coach Pat New said. “Getting to 3-1 is great.”
The Redwings (1-0 in the CCL/ESCC Purple) had to rally from a 7-0 hole they found themselves in. The Lions got on the board first when Joey Lampignano (17 of 38 passing for 176 yards) found C.J. McAlister from 12 yards out with 5:38 left in the first half.
Benet did so by going on an 8-play, 61-yard march that culminated with a 5-yard Ben Clevenger TD toss to Jon Ericson with 2:07 remaining until the break.
Then came Doyle’s late third-period heroics as he fielded the punt at his own 34-yard line.
“I caught (the ball) and made the first guy miss and then my downfield blockers were excellent,” said Doyle, who starts at both wide receiver and corner back.
“The offense was struggling a little bit and we needed to make a play on special teams.”
Doyle’s next punt return set up the Redwings in business at the St. Viator 9 where Savino (23 rushes, 97 yards) took it in three plays later for a 21-7 advantage with 10:10 to play.
The host school (1-3, 0-1) got a second TD pass from Lampignano to Jack Leonard (26 yards) on the game’s final play. It marked their third consecutive home setback after a season-opening win against Marian Catholic. They travel to St. Ignatius next week while Benet, winners of two in a row, faces Mt. Carmel.
