By: Red Russo On Saturday, August 29, 2009 the Lincoln-Way Patriots made history for a first year team by going undefeated in MSFL regular season play. The fledgling Patriots traveled to Indianapolis and won a tough 28-20 decision. The contest was hard fought even though the Patriots had already made the playoffs and were already awarded home field advantage. The game was one played for pride. In the first quarter QB, Mike Strimel hit WR, Nate McCullom on a 19 yard TD pass. McCullom scored the first and last TD of the game as he ran a 27 yard reverse for a 4th quarter score.
At half-time the score was 7-0 in favor of the Patriots who never trailed in the game. In the 3rd quarter the Patriots turned to a running game which featured Running Backs Virgil Talbert and Steve Strimel. After a long, 98 yard interception return by FS, Marzell Green, Strimel scored from four yards out making the the score 14-0 at the end of the quarter. Steve Strimel led all rushers with 14 carries for 127 yards and two TD,s. Midway through the fourth quarter TE, Matt Simonson made a 27 yard TD catch to increase the lead to 21-0. QB, Mike Strimel was very accurate and hit 8 of 12 attempts for 126 yards and 2 TD’s. The Patriot Defense was hoping for a shut out but the Stampede was able to put a score on the board and closed the gap with a 2 yard TD run making the score Patriots 21 and Stampede 6. With four minutes left in the quarter Nate McCullom went into action with a 27 yard run on a reverse. Kicker, Tom Van Anrooy kicked the fourth of his extra point attempts and the Patriots held a 28-6 lead. The defense had a productive day picking off four passes and recovering three stampede fumbles. They had shut down the running and passing game of the Stampede for most of the game but the Stampede would not quit. With four minutes remaining in the game the stampede scored on a miss-communication in the secondary. The Stampede went for the two point conversion and brought the score to a respectable 28-14 margin. The defense had been frustrated earlier because they had an 82 yard punt return brought back on a penalty. FS and CB. William “Chilly” Bills ran an 82 yard punt back and also scored on offense on a 67 yard reception. Both efforts were spectacular plays but both didn’t count due to penalties. The Stampede got the ball with 2:12 remaining in the fourth quarter and was aided by a pass interference penalty in the end zone. The Stampede scored on a 1 yard run but was stopped for the 2 point conversion. With 1:09 remaining the score was Patriots 28 Stampede 20. Using their time outs the Stampede got the ball back and FS, Green intercepted again on the last play of the game. The patriot defense was sparked by the linebackers. Eric Zinzer (5 tackles), Jelani Sutton (5 tackles) and Ty Radke (5 tackles and 1 interception) were active all night. Defensive lineman Tyrie Brady made 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. In the defensive backfield, Marzell Green produced 2 interceptions, CB, Pete Edmund made 3 tackles and recovered a fumble Will Long the other CB forced a fumble, intercepted a pass and added 3 tackles. SS, Paco Villa, Intercepted a pass, made four tackles and broke up 2 passes. Linemen on both sides of the football established themselves as top quality. Offensive linemen, Justin Zenere, Dominic Angeloni, JP Caroll, Jerome McCullor and Ryan Winterfeld continually knocked defenders off the football and were aided in the blocking schemes by TE’s Andrew Short and Dan Peters. Defensive linemen were kept fresh as ten men were used in the game. Sacks were recorded by DE’s Short and Tony Wisniewski, Joe Hughes and tackles Tyrie Brady and Joe Button. Offensive Coordinator, Dan Welden and Defensive Coordinator Silvio Bartolo both brought excellent game plans under head coach Steve Strimel Sr.. Offensive line coach, Andre Holland did a magnificent job in substituting both defensive and offensive linemen and served as an inspiration to the entire team.