Downers South Christens New Field in Style

There were plenty of reasons for Downers South to be excited Friday night.

The Mustangs were making their debut on the school’s new artificial turf field and celebrating Senior Night.

The seniors made sure there was something else to celebrate, namely a victory. Running back Josh Williams carried the ball 37 times for a career-high 336 yards and three touchdowns and the defense came up with two early turnovers as the Mustangs knocked off South Elgin 28-7 Friday night in Downers Grove.

It is the first time Downers South (1-0) has opened the season with a win since 2007. The Mustangs lost their first two contests in each of the past three seasons.

“We haven’t won a season opener since 2007 so it feels great to open up on our new turf field and get win,” Williams said.

Williams was a workhorse, grinding out yards on several long drives, three of which ended with him in the end zone. His first score was a one-yard plunge with 4:19 left in the first quarter that capped a 10-play, 94-yard drive that began after sophomore Josh Belt forced and recovered a fumble by South Elgin quarterback Zachary Gross at the Mustang 6.

“We really wanted to focus on this game,” said Belt, a 5-8, 155-pound sophomore who was making his varsity debut. “It was great to open up this new field and we came out with a really good mindset and really pumped.

“I think (my fumble recovery) really pumped up the team. We got the ball back and were ready to score.”

After the Storm (0-1) tied the game on a six-yard run by Gross with 8:15 to play in the second quarter, the Mustangs retaliated with a 13-play, 80-yard scoring drive to take a 14-7 lead with 2:15 remaining in the half. Williams rushed eight times for 68 yards on the drive, capping it with a three-yard touchdown run.

“He’s a great player and he’s going to make a million great plays before the season is over,” South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said of Williams, who was quick to share the credit with his linemen.

“I can’t do it by myself,” Williams said. “It has to be all the line. The line opens up a good hole and it’s my job to read it, so when they get the hole I’ve got to hit. Collectively they did amazing tonight.”

The Storm kept the game close until the fourth quarter and moved the ball well on Downers South, finishing with 287 yards of offense. But they turned the ball over twice in the red zone – senior Danny Leach’s interception at his own 26 being the other one – and missed two field goal tries. The first was a 39-yard attempt at the end of the first half and the second a 35-yarder late in the third quarter.

The latter was followed by another 80-yard Downers South drive, with Williams scoring on an eight-yard run to make it 21-7 at the 10:57 mark of the fourth quarter. Six minutes later, senior tight end Scott Daly finished the scoring with a nine-yard reception from A.J. Simoncelli.

It was the first career touchdown for the 6-4, 240-pound Daly, who is headed to Notre Dame as a long snapper.

“Starting out the year 1-0 is definitely huge, especially after the last three years losing the first and second game,” Daly said. “We grinded it out, had some tough times in the beginning but we learned from our mistakes and did better and better every drive and finished strong."