Defense Rests In Flag Loss To Unbeaten GBS

When Evanston’s flag football team scored on the first possession of the second half Wednesday night against Glenbrook South and cut their deficit to 12-6 at Lazier Field, Wildkit fans had a glimmer of hope that they could spoil GBS’ unbeaten season.

That hope lasted just a few seconds.

On the next play from scrimmage, a missed flag pull allowed the Titans to score on an 86-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Godbout to Lucy Clark and GBS never looked back in a 38-6 romp that knocked the Kits out of the Central Suburban League championship picture.

The defeat snapped Evanston’s 8-game win string and dropped the hosts to 12-2 on the season. Glenbrook South moved to 13-0 and can earn a share of the league title (with Maine South) with a victory over Vernon Hills Thursday.

Evanston might have set a school record for missed pulls (tackles) in the second half in a game they played without two of their top defenders. All-State candidate KyNia Hunt was held out of the contest after suffering an ankle injury last Saturday and then going down with an illness early this week, while Harper Wesenberg is still in concussion protocol.

“KyNia could have played, I guess, but I’m not second-guessing my decision,” said ETHS head coach Carlton Rosemond, who is also her father. “There was no real reason for us to show our hand (play at full strength) in a game that mattered --- but isn’t the end all, be all.

“She is the anchor who puts others in good position for our defense. But the story of tonight was all of those missed flag pulls. If we had stayed disciplined with our pulls, we’d have been right with them. We proved that for two quarters. We made a lot of mistakes and GBS capitalized on them, so kudos to them.”

GBS, which entered the contest ranked No. 3 in the state by USA Today, scored twice in the first half behind quarterback Jillian Kramme. Not known for her running ability, Kramme scampered 20 and 7 yards for touchdowns to make it 12-0 at halftime.

Evanston, however, answered with a 5-play scoring drive following a 10-yard punt return by Brielle Rosemond that put the Kits in position at the South 30. Ava Bellis (17-of-35 passing for 105 yards, 2 interceptions) threw a 4-yard TD pass to Ella Martin and the Kits were back in business.

Or so they thought.

“We came out with energy in the second half, we get a stop on defense, and we came back and scored. But we have a missed flag pull in the open field, and she turns a 4-yard gain into an 86-yard touchdown,” Rosemond lamented about the play that broke the game open again. “And it wasn’t that she made a spectacular move. We just missed. That play took the air out of our team.”

Too many more misses to count turned the contest into a running clock affair according to Illinois High School Association slaughter rules. For the Titans, the second half highlights included a 51-yard touchdown run by Godbout --- that featured at least three missed pulls --- plus a 45-yard interception return for a score by Alexis Conlon.

The Kits conclude their regular season with a Thursday game at Maine West and a Saturday morning (11 a.m.) matchup at home against the No. 1 ranked team in Illinois, unbeaten Willowbrook.