Griffith Senior High School

Griffith remains undefeated after shocking River Forest Griffith 34, River Forest 31 By Paul Honeycutt NEW CHICAGO — It might be only a matter of time, but this instance, this is 49 years and counting. That’s the last time River Forest beat Griffith and it will stay that way until possibly a sectional matchup in October. The Panthers (5-0) used a couple key TD passes from Ryan Bullion to propel them to a heartstopping 34-31 win over the Ingots (3-2) in Northwest Indiana’s game of the year, which may not be beat for that title. Speaking of titles, the last time Griffith won a sectional was 2008 in the waning glory days for Russ Radtke at the home of the Boneyard. Pundits, message boards, writers and fans are all asking the same thing. Is Griffith back? “Oh, we’re definitely back!” Bullion said emphatically. “Yeah, we’re back!” added junior Jalen Wilson, who caught the game-winning TD on a 40-yard pass from Bullion. This game was a heavyweight slugfest from the beginning, as there were a whopping seven total lead changes. “We needed this type of win,” Griffith coach Phil Mason said. “We needed someone to punch us in the mouth and that’s exactly what they did.” After exchanging touchdowns across the first and most of the second quarter, River Forest scored on back-to-back plays after senior QB Ayden Silver ran one in from 10 yards out. The next play from scrimmage saw Ingots junior LB Michael Turner read a Bullion screen pass brilliantly and he jumped the route, intercepted the ball and ran it in untouched from 40 yards, and they took a 25-14 lead into the half. The Panthers responded with an emphatic opening second-half drive which saw a heavy dose of Griffith’s lethal running back duo of Jaxon Lawson and Ventris Tetter, with the former finishing the drive with a 2-yard rushing score to get it to 25-21. With 5:56 left, Tetter was stopped on a 4th and 2 from the Ingots 15 for no gain. But on the next drive, River Forest fumbled the ball away and Griffith took advantage to go up 27-25 with a Bullion 8-yard TD pass to fellow sophomore Jason Quillin, who ended with seven catches for 82 yards. “This game shows us that we can’t be too cocky, but we kept our composure and got it done,” said Wilson, who also caught a 31-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter and totaled 71 receiving yards. Mason credited Wilson’s defensive effort after they dealt with the high-flying Ingots offense. “I know he loves basketball, but Jalen’s a Big 10-level defensive back,” said Mason. “He could be one of the only Power 5 players to come out of Griffith.” On the ensuing possession, Silver connected with Turner on a 60-yard TD pass to go back up 31-27 with 1:35 left in the game. “I knew we were gonna come back and score on that next drive,” said Bullion. “I think I’ve done pretty good so far this season, but there’s room to get better.” Silver finished with 156 passing yards, three total scores and 90 rushing yards on 17 carries while Carlos Villagomez ran for 109 yards on 17 carries with a TD. Ingots senior WR Levi Harper caught three balls for 69 yards, including a 24-yard TD catch in the first quarter. Tetter ran for 134 yards and Lawson rushed for 62 yards with both scoring a TD. Griffith 34, River Forest 31 Griffith; 7 7 7 13 – 34 River Forest; 6 19 0 6 – 31 RF – Levi Harper 24 pass from Ayden Silver (kick failed), 5:51 1st G – Ventris Tetter 1 run (Ryan Rose kick), 1:03 1st RF – Carlos Villagomez 7 run (run failed), 7:55 2nd G – Jalen Wilson 31 pass from Ryan Bullion (Rose kick), 6:09 2nd RF – Silver 10 run (kick failed), 3:24 2nd RF – Michael Turner 40 INT return (Chris Whitt kick), 3:11 2nd G – Jaxon Lawson 2 run (Rose kick), 7:45 3rd G – Jason Quillin 8 pass from Bullion (kick failed), 3:17 4th RF – Turner 60 pass from Silver (kick failed), 1:35 4th G – Wilson 40 pass from Bullion (Rose kick), 0:30 4th Griffith;River Forest First Downs;16;12 Total Yards;389;359 Rushes-Yards;48-236;39-203 Passing;153;136 Comp.-Att.-Int.;9-15-2;7-17-0 Penalties-Yards;6-60;10-81 Fumbles-Lost;1-0;4-1 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING – GRIFFITH, Ventris Tetter 24-134, Jaxon Lawson 15-62, Ryan Bullion 7-37, Jason Dillon 1-4, Mason Litke 1-(-1). RIVER FOREST, Carlos Villagomez 17-109, Ayden Silver 17-90, Marquise Harris 1-4, Troy Thompson 2-0, Jeremiah Stancil 1-0, Aureliano Arana 1-0. PASSING – GRIFFITH, Bullion 9-15-153-3-2. RIVER FOREST, Silver 7-17-156-2-0. RECEIVING – GRIFFITH, Jason Quillin 7-82, Jalen Wilson 2-71. RIVER FOREST, Levi Harper 3-69, Harris 3-27, Michael Turner 1-60.