Wildkits Work Together For Second Straight Win

High school football teams without a lot of star power have to find other ways to win.

Evanston did it again Friday night in Deerfield.

With contributions from too many players to count, the Wildkits held off Deerfield 32-25 for their second straight Central Suburban League South division victory and improved to 3-4 on the season.

Senior Damarion Timberlake rushed for a career high 202 yards on 35 carries and scored 3 touchdowns, and the ETHS defense grabbed two interceptions in the last two and a half minutes to secure the triumph in another all-hands-on-deck example of teamwork.

Head coach Mike Burzawa might cringe at the number of mistakes still in evidence, especially on special teams, when he views the game film on Monday. But the veteran mentor also has a deep appreciation for a squad that can make up for mistakes and rise to the occasion like his current group.

“It was ugly at times,” Burzawa admitted, “but our execution was very good at times, too. It came down to takeaways, and taking care of the football. The first 4 weeks of the season there were 8 or 10 times when the ball was on the turf --- and we didn’t get it. But we stayed hungry and kept after it, and all those little things really mattered tonight. The defense made some big stops when they needed to.

“I’m proud of the way these kids competed and fought and worked together tonight. They just kept battling. It was a back and forth game --- a wild and crazy game --- and we were able to make some plays at the end.”

Late interceptions by Jayden Rodriguez and Jacques Philippe decided Deerfield’s Homecoming game in front of a chilled and wet crowd at Paul Adams Field.

Rodriguez’s theft will definitely make the 2023 season highlight film. The junior defensive end leaped in the air to bat away a pass attempt from Deerfield quarterback Mac Jones (13-of-28 passing for 150 yards), then grabbed the ball before it could fall to the turf at his own 29-yard line with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left in regulation play.

After an Evanston punt, Philippe snared a deflected pass and the visitors were able to run out the clock.

Rodriguez, a junior who figured his future might be on the basketball court before a knee injury sidelined him for a year and a half, proved the theory that practice makes perfect by grabbing the attention of the ETHS coaching staff and forcing his way into the lineup with his efforts in practice.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder is listed as a wide receiver on the Evanston roster but has switched over to the defensive side in recent days, buying into the premise that he’ll fill in wherever the team needs him most.

“We saw him deflecting passes like that every day in practice --- we couldn’t complete any against him --- and that’s what got him on the field,” said Burzawa. “He’s accepted his role with this team, works hard, and it paid off for him with that amazing pick.”

Timberlake’s second straight dazzling performance was not just a career best, it marked only the second time the senior standout has ever surpassed 100 yards in a game. Operating behind an offensive line that turned in its best performance of the season, Timberlake scored on runs of 5, 1 and 19 yards to share the hero’s role for the second week in a row.

His last minute touchdown against New Trier was declared the video highlight of Week 6 by the Illinois High School Association --- but he was even better Friday, breaking tackles again and again and making something out of nothing at times.

“Our O-line got vertical movement tonight and that was great to see. Damarion had another big game,” Burzawa praised. “We’ve been airing it out a little more (passing more than running) the past couple of weeks, but we were effective with the running game tonight. We took what they gave us, that’s the game of football.”

Two key pass interference plays to start the second half helped the Warriors (4-3 overall) march 60 yards in just 5 plays to start the second half as they seized a 15-12 advantage on a 6-yard scoring run by Quinn Schimanski (19 carries for 68 yards).

But the visitors responded immediately, as junior quarterback Colin Livatino (14-of-23 for 217 yards 2 touchdowns), connected with Ike Israelite for a 32-yard score. The two teams traded scores before the fourth quarter started with Evanston clinging to a 24-22 edge, as Timberlake plunged in from the 1 and Deerfield hit paydirt on a 20 yard pass from Jones to Zach Friedman.

Timberlake did most of the damage for the Kits on what turned out to be the deciding drive of the contest. He danced into the end zone with 7:16 remaining, and added the PAT run to boost the margin to 32-22.

Deerfield’s Tomas Guczal kicked a 27-yard field goal after the Kit defense stiffened at their own 11 to account for the rest of the scoring.

Evanston will host Glenbrook North next Friday at 7:30 p.m.