Lincoln-Way East’s Gage LaDere returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown, and it had one of his best friends running 60 yards of his own on the sideline.
The 6-foot-2, 260-pound junior defensive lineman turned on the jets Friday night, revving up the home crowd in the process. And junior running back Brody Gish also was going wild.
“I didn’t really see anything until I heard that we got the ball and I’m just seeing that man running down the sideline,” Gish said. “I ran from the opposite 20 all the way down to the other 20.
“I was so pumped for him. Man, that was awesome. What an awesome play.”
LaDere’s heroics in the second quarter helped the Griffins, ranked No. 1 in the state by The Associated Press in Class 8A, take the lead en route to a 28-7 victory over No. 2 Naperville Central in a Southwest Valley Conference crossover game in Frankfort.
Junior quarterback Jonas Williams, an Oregon recruit, threw for 162 yards and a touchdown for Lincoln-Way East (9-0). Gish ran for 51 yards and a TD on 10 carries and caught two passes for 21 yards and another TD. Jeremiah Powers added an interception.
Naperville Central (8-1) was led by senior quarterback Sebastian Hayes, who completed 20 of 36 passes for 176 yards, including a 14-yard TD pass to DeShaun Williams to give the Redhawks a 7-0 lead, which marked the first time all season the Griffins trailed in a game.
LaDere, meanwhile, came right to the bench after his big return to put the Griffins up 14-7. He sat out a few plays when the defense had to go right back out on the field.
A large TV that coaches use for instruction was showing his big run, but he was not sitting there admiring it or even watching it.
“I was just mostly huffing and puffing,” he said with a laugh. “I was really tired after that one.”
LaDere said he had a 20-yard interception return for a TD earlier in the year against Stagg but it was nothing like this. Michael Jemilo put pressure on Hayes, the ball finding its way to LaDere.
“I saw the ball in the air and made a football play, and I have to thank the other D-linemen for getting to him,” LaDere said of Hayes. “I was thinking I was going to go as far as I can.
“I have to thank everyone on the defense for blocking. They really helped med get to the end zone. I did not know I had that kind of speed.”
Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said LaDere resembled former compact New Orland Saints and Chicago Bears power running back Craig “Ironhead” Heyward on that play.
“Gage is going to be a Division I player,” Zvonar said. “Colleges may not look at him right away because of his size, but they will be looking at him when they are looking for a football player.”
This is the first year of the three-division Southwest Valley Conference and the Griffins posed behind a banner after the game declaring them the champions.
The win also kept alive a 30-game winning streak in the regular season for Lincoln-Way East.
The Griffins were No. 1 on just about everyone’s state or area’s rankings and polls from the preseason on and haven’t disappointed this fall, rolling through eight opponents by a combined score of 367-104 despite winning a Week 2 game by forfeit.
The hype will not ease up on the Griffins, who figure to be a top 1 seed in Class 8A heading into the state playoffs. Lincoln-Way East lost state championship games to Loyola in 2022 and 2023 but will be looking to take the title this season.
“The don’t let the ranking affect us,” LaDere said. “We just keep playing our game. We just play Lincoln-Way East football.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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