At first glance, it appeared Bolingbrook breakaway back Erik Smith would be the one to benefit most from the Raiders’ new artificial turf Friday night.
With the kind of elusive speed that led to an oral commitment to Wisconsin, Smith was on a fast track that storied former Bolingbrook tailbacks such as Robert Farmer, Corey Day, Marcus Smith and Dale Martin could only dream about.
And yet, this fail-safe synthetic field also played to the advantage of Lincoln-Way Central kicker Jake Wieclaw, who entered this SouthWest Suburban crossover game with 41 career field goals — three shy of the state career record.
And there wouldn’t be a bad spot for a placement all night.
But it was Bolingbrook defensive back Kenny Campbell’s interception with 15 seconds left that preserved a 7-6 victory.
“I knew they were going to their best player, No. 3 (Wieclaw), so I stayed back in a zone and waited for it,” Campbell said. “I saw it coming, made my move and grabbed it.
“That No. 3 is a very good kicker, and I knew if they got close, he would try to kick another one. Our defensive line did a great job putting pressure on their quarterback (Robbie Glielmi).”
Wieclaw had converted from 38 yards in the second quarter — his 42nd career field goal. A 41-yard field goal with 6:34 left in the game left him just one behind the state mark set by Rick Albreski of Driscoll in 2004. Wieclaw also caught three passes for 63 yards.
No. 15 Bolingbrook (2-1) used a little trickery to set up the game’s first score. A quick-kick on fourth-and-5 at the Lincoln-Way 41 by quarterback Shadonta Travis was downed on the 1-yard line. The Raiders defense, headed by linebacker Senuwell Smith and linemen John Harbin, Trent Noble and Perry Burge, pinned the Knights on the 1.
Bolingbrook then used an 11-yard Smith run and an 11-yard pass from Travis to Alfonzo Sylvester to set up Kwame Harris’ 10-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
No. 18 Lincoln-Way (2-1) and a defense led by linebacker Brandon Nigro and lineman Zach Carlson kept Smith in check the first half, limiting him to 38 yards on nine carries. He finished with 100 yards on 24 carries.
Back for the official field-christening was Martin, an All-Stater last year and now a freshman running back at Louisville still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
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bsakamoto@tribune.com
