Lane Hangs Close but Evanston Prevails 27-20 Behind Bolden's 286 Yards, 4TD’s

Evanston 27-Lane 20

September 1, 2006

Lane Stadium Chicago, IL- The last time Evanston played Lane was in the 1990’s when the two teams met a couple times in the IHSA playoffs. The teams met again Friday night under different circumstances. This time, it is in week two of the regular season. Both teams lost week one games versus strong opponents. Lane fell to Lockport 31-6 and Evanston lost at home versus ranked Hinsdale Central 16-0.

This football game with Lane and Evanston at Lane stadium can best be described as a slugfest. Every time a team a team scored the other team answered back with a score. The scoring started in the very first drive of the game when Lane Tech scored on a 1 yard plunge by Brandon Carter. The big play of the first drive was a 30 yard pass reception from Lane Quarterback Steve Pienkos to Danny Juek. The two point conversion failed and Lane led 6-0. Lane had a chance to add to their lead after Lane Tech’s Adam Nelson recovered an Evanston fumble on the Evanston 18 on a botched handoff attempt. However a holding penalty combined with a sack on Pienkos forced Lane to punt without taking advantage of excellent field position.

Evanston took possession on their own 19 yard line. Evanston gained two first downs but was faced with a 4th down on their own 40. At that point Evanston coach Tony Johnson decided to gamble by calling a fake punt. The gamble worked when the punter completed a pass to receiver Brian Murphy for a 27 yard gain. Two plays later Kendall Farlow, who is being recruited by Nebraska among others, scored on a 33 yard scamper.

In Lane’s first drive of the second quarter, Lane Tech’s Brandon Carter fumbled the ball and Evanston recovered on Lane’s 35. Evanston made Lane pay for the turnover when RB Michael Bolden dropped a pass thrown backward to him; he picked it up and ran 12 yards for a touchdown. That score put Evanston up 13-6.

Wild 4^th Quarter

Fans in stadium felt the game would end with a 13-6 Evanston victory when Lane line dup to punt on the Evanston 35 with about 5:00 left to play. Up to that point, Evanston’s defense had bottled up Lane’s defense with the exception of Lane’s first drive. Evanston held Lane running back William Moorehead to 36 yards on 11 carries. However, Lane got a break when the punt hit an Evanston player and Lane recovered on Evanston’s 12 yard line. A couple plays later Moorehead scored on an 11-yard touchdown run up the middle to put Lane ahead 14-13 with 4: 38 to play.

At that point Lane fans began to suspect that an upset over Evanston may be in the making. However those thought were quickly dampered when Evanston star Michael Bolden took over. Bolden (6’1” 185lb) recently signed with Northwestern University. Prior to the game he said “my goal was to gain 200 yards”. Bolden picked up a chunk of his 286 yards when he used his blazing speed to whiz past Lane’s defense for a 42 yard score to put Evanston ahead 21-14. On the ensuing kickoff, Lane utilized some trickery when Moorhead received the kickoff then reversed it to Fuad Salami. Salami blew past the confused Evanston specials team’s players to put Lane within one. Bolden again proved how special of a player he is when he scored on a 60 yard run on 3^rd and inches to make the final score Evanston 27-Lane 0.

Lane plays Simeon next Saturday at Lane. Simeon lost to St. Rita in Week 1 and Bolingbrook in week 2.

Quotes on the Game

Bolden : 286 yards, 4 TD’s

Evanston’s Michael Bolden: “I made a play in the first half but I wasn’t really satisfied with it….my goal was to run 200 yards in this game….I got a little dinger on the goal line, #64 dinged me up, I knew I couldn’t get out of the game; I had to play both ways so I’m pretty exhausted.”

Evanston Coach Tony Johnson: “It was good to get out of here with a win.”

Lane Running Back William Moorehead: “ We made a little mistakes here, a little mistakes there, that’s what caused us to get the L…You just got to come back ready to play, every play might be a play you might win with it….[Bolden’s] a decent back.

Lane Wide Receiver Fuad Salami: “[Penalties] changed the momentum of the game.

Lane Head Coach Rich Rio: “we’ve got a lot of work to do…Simeon’s certainly going to come in really hungry….we’re going to have to play better defense from that point on…you can’t give up 27 points, you can’t let somebody get 283 yards…there was some improvement, I thought we ran the ball pretty well…I thought we put enough points on the board.”