Plainfield East Stuns Plainfield North, 38-12

A David and Goliath story, of sorts, played out Friday night during the Southwest Prairie Conference opener for and at East.

, last year’s league doormat, took advantage of seven turnovers and scored 31 straight points to stun 2010 conference tri-champion 38-12.

It’s the first win over a school and the first against a school with a .500 or better record. It puts at 1-2 overall, and 1-0 and tied for first place in the SPC. fell to 1-2, 0-1.

, Minooka, and Oswego are tied for first with 1-0 records.

“Every one doubted us when we were 0-2, but these guys are special,” coach Mike Romeli said. “We came out with a great game plan and our kids executed it. We’ve been preaching to these kids about doing their job. We brought it together tonight.”

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” senior receiver Myles Walters said. “That scoreboard looks lovely. It’s about time, right.”

“We’ve been waiting to beat this team for a long time,” senior receiver Juwan Straughter said. “This feels great. We’ve got the team, we just have to put in the work and finish.”

Straughter and Walters hooked up for what could have been the biggest play of the game.

Facing a third-and-seven from their own 41, Romeli called for what is commonly known as the hook and ladder play.

quarterback Robert Zamora (9-for-17 for 169 yards and two touchdowns) hit Straughter in the flat. He pitched it back to a streaking Walters, who turned up the near sideline and turned it into a 59-yard touchdown that gave the Bengals a 24-12 lead with 9:15 to play in the fourth quarter.

“Juwan and Myles are two clowns and they always work on that,” Romeli said. “They kept begging me to call it. We needed a big play, I called it and they executed it. That makes me look like a genius.”

“We came up with that play in practice over the summer,” said Walters, who totaled 104 yards rushing and receiving and two touchdowns. “We asked coach to put it in, he put it in; we told coach we needed a game changer, and he called the play. As soon as he called it, I knew it was going to be a touchdown. That was a game changer right there.”

“They were playing man and I knew they were going to come up on me,” Straughter said. “I knew when I pitched it to him, they weren’t going to get him.”

The drive started when Kyle Hanacek intercepted quarterback Kurt Palandech. The junior completed seven of 19 passes for 82 yards and four interceptions.

running back Jay Roberts, who came into the game averaging 7.5 yards a rush, ran for 77 yards on 24 carries, a 3.1 average.

“ is a good team, conference champs last year, but we got it done,” Romeli said. “We’ve caught up physically. Teams aren’t going to be able to physically beat us up any more because of our dedication in the weight room in the off season.”

Shekeal Taylor rushed 29 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns, including a 10-yard scamper with 5:03 to play in the first quarter that gave the hosts a 7-6 lead.

Trailing 12-7, Straughter (five catches, 74 yards, one touchdown) caught a 26-yard touchdown from Zamora with 4:33 to play in the second quarter to give the Bengals the lead for good.