Jack Lewis declined to say what he told his Immaculate Conception football team at halftime of the Knights` 10-0 West Suburban Catholic Conference victory Saturday at St. Francis in Wheaton.
”You can`t print that,” Lewis said.
Whatever, Lewis has made halftime speeches to Knight ballclubs for 19 years. He got the point across.
”We weren`t executing in that first half the way we did the first two games,” said Lewis, whose team (3-0, 1-0) has already won more games this season than it did in the last two years combined. ”They made too many mistakes. I don`t know where that first half came from. Thank God they got their act together in the second.”
All Immaculate Conception`s offense had to show for the first half was 20 yards, one first down and Jim Bordignon`s 32-yard field goal. That came after the Knights recovered a Spartan fumble on IC`s 42. St. Francis, led by junior quarterback Jack McMahon`s 60 rushing yards, had rolled up 135 yards and seven first downs.
IC changed all that, taking the second-half kickoff and driving 64 yards for a touchdown. Junior Steve Henriksen ground out 32 yards, including 12 on the touchdown run.
The Knights` defense, meanwhile, corraled McMahon. St. Francis (1-2, 0-1) never got inside the Knights` 35-yard line after halftime.
Henriksen, a 195-pound junior, and speedy Mike Kostrewa handle the bulk of the running chores behind three-year starting quarterback Mark Hoffman.
”We knew we just had to execute,” said Henriksen, who finished with 82 yards. ”We know we have to go out on the field with a winning attitude.”
Even though things were tough for IC in back-to-back 1-8 seasons, Lewis, who has a 108-41-5 career record, kept his cool. One of the Knights` losses in 1984 came at the hands of Class 4A state runner-up Benet, which kicked two field goals to beat the Knights 6-0.
”That can`t be a 1-8 team,” Lewis said. ”Our record the past two years is deceiving, but for IC that`s not acceptable. The one thing we haven`t had are the running backs we have this year.”
Saturday`s victory kept IC on a roll. But for the Knights, there is still plenty of work ahead. They have yet to meet playoff contenders Benet, Driscoll and Montini.
”We`re more confident now than we`ve ever been,” said senior lineman Todd Smith, ”but we also know it`s going to get harder.”
