Reavis’ drought against Evergreen Park is over.
For the first time in eight seasons, the Rams prevailed against their conference rival, winning 14-0 on Sept. 26.
“… High-school football is tough (enough) alone,” Rams coach Tim Zasada said. “To go on the road and win at Evergreen (Park’s) homecoming, that’s a special one.
“We really wanted that one. There’s no better place to do it than on their home field and prove to ourselves that we are a playoff team. It was a good victory.”
As is typically the case, Reavis (4-1, 2-1 South Suburban Red) was reliant on its solid rushing attack to pick up the win. Ahmad Everette’s 12-yard TD run opened the scoring with 22 seconds to play in the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Parker Zasada’s 1-yard TD run enabled the Rams to secure their grasp as their lead widened to 14-0.
“Our defense was really good,” Tim Zasada said. “They stopped (Evergreen Park) a couple of times inside the red zone and they forced two takeaways inside the red zone.
“That was huge. … The defense was swarming all night and our guys had some really good takeaways at key, opportune times.”
Starting at defensive end, Parker Zasada led the way with three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while defensive backs Nikko Roberts and Everette had interceptions.
Special teams were key, too.
“What really helps us is that we have an outstanding kicker in Blake Stefanek,” Zasada said. “He basically has put every kick in the end zone this year and when you can flip the field position and make Evergreen go 80 yards, that’s really difficult.
“Blake really sets the tone at the beginning of the game by kicking them deep and letting our defense walk out onto the field and do their thing. It’s a combination of really good kicking and our defensive coaches put in a ton of work and they knew what was coming. Those guys were prepared and the kids made a lot of plays. That was fun.”
Evergreen Park (3-2, 0-2) stayed competitive despite missing seven starters. The Mustangs’ defense was anchored by freshman safety Jaylen Chothen who finished with seven tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.
“Jaylen came in and we had him practice with us all summer,” Mustangs coach Jim Ramazinski said. “He kind of fit right in and looked like he had the physical capabilities.
“He’s very, very wise for his age as a freshman out there and he’s doing a great job for us. He’s learning a little bit as he goes, but he’s getting better every week.”
Other defensive contributors for Evergreen Park were Axel Salgado, Osvaldo Vargas and Jacob Ruvalcaba, who all had 10 tackles. Ruvalcaba also added a tackle for loss.