On a Lincoln-Way East team with marquee names all over the field, juniors Gage LaDere and Brody Gish didn’t have the highest profiles coming into the season.
But as the calendar flips to November and the regular season gives way to the playoffs, LaDere and Gish are standing tall for the area’s No. 1 team.
LaDere, a 260-pound defensive tackle, had his second pick-six of the season and Gish scored two touchdowns as the Griffins beat No. 10 Naperville Central 28-7 Friday night in Frankfort.
Lincoln-Way East (9-0) trailed for the first time all season when Naperville Central (8-1) forced a turnover and then scored on a 64-yard pass from Sebastian Hayes to DeShaun Williams 55 seconds into the game.
But a Griffins defense led by linemen LaDere, Caden O’Rourke and Michael Jemilo shut out the Redhawks the rest of the way and Lincoln-Way East’s offense gradually wore down Naperville Central’s defense.
“We had a few injuries tonight and some guys finished the game less than 100% with some toughness,” East coach Rob Zvonar said. “Some guys had to go out of the game. So it was probably a good night to have 90 guys on your team.”
Especially guys like LaDere and Gish.
LaDere had his first interception return for a touchdown in a 49-3 win over Stagg in Week 3. The stakes were much higher this time when LaDere picked off Redhawks quarterback Sebastian Hayes and ran it back 63 yards to break a 7-7 tie midway through the second quarter.
“To me, he’s a Division I defensive tackle,” Zvonar said. “They’re going to look for somebody taller [than the 6-2 LaDere] first. But then they’re going to come back to football players and they’re going to grab him.”
“I just saw the ball up in the air and made a football play,” LaDere said. “I’ve got to thank Caden O’Rourke and the other D-linemen for getting to [Hayes}. I’ve also got to thank everyone else on the defense for blocking. They really helped me get to the end zone.”
Did LaDere know he had that kind of speed?
“No, I did not,” he said.
Gish’s quickness has been established over the course of the season as he has teamed with senior Western Michigan commit Zion Gist in the Griffins’ backfield.
“We always played two [running backs],” Zvonar said. “We had a primary and a supplemental guy. And what was fun to find out through Zion’s injuries is we have two primaries now.”
Gish had 12 touches for 72 total yards, including a 24-yard touchdown run to tie the score 7-7 early in the second quarter and a three-yard TD pass from Jonas Williams to make it 21-7 late in the third.
Gist had 16 touches for 68 yards, including a four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“We give each other that breather and we make each other better,” Gish said.
Williams, an Oregon commit, finished 15-of-23 passing for 153 yards with one interception.
For Naperville Central, Hayes went 19 for 37 for 222 yards with two interceptions. Williams had eight catches for 122 yards.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Zvonar said. “I love [Hayes]. But then we started playing tighter, tougher coverage, putting a little pressure on him.”