Nagel rallies Lemont to title
Seven weeks after both had struggled to a combined 1-3 record, Lemont and Bremen met Friday night in Midlothain to see which team would complete the turnaround with a South Suburban Blue championship.
The title belongs to Lemont after the Indians scored on their first three possessions of the third quarter to turn a 10-6 deficit into a 26-10 victory.
"I don't think we came out to play in the beginning," junior quarterback Brett Nagel said. "We all got fired up at halftime. We realized it was for our conference championship."
Lemont (7-2, 5-0) spread out its offensive front in the second half and created running room for Nagel and Robert Earnest, whose 33-yard run to Bremen's 17-yard line preceded a 16-yard TD strike from Nagel to Sean Brickey three plays into the half.
Nagel raised the lead to 19-10 on a 3-yard keeper—set up four plays earlier by William Hayes' interception—and Earnest completed the scoring with a 20-yard run with 4 minutes 25 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bremen (6-3, 3-2) scored twice in the last two minutes of the first half for a 10-6 lead. Richard Courtney returned a fumble to Lemont's 2, and Tim Cazley scored on the next play. Arturo Macias kicked a 27-yard field goal to end the first half.
"We were kind of upset at halftime," Nagel said. "We knew we were a better team than that."
Lemont played without running back/safety Aaron Nagel, who suffered a hyperextended right knee last week. He hopes to be ready for next weekend's playoff opener.
Source: ChicagoSports.com