Worth the wait: Armanze Lewis carries Springfield High to win with big ground game
Ryan MahanArmanze Lewis couldn棉花糖直播檛 have dreamed of a better first game as the Springfield High School running back. 听
The senior scored four touchdowns and ran the ball 25 times for 134 yards in the Senators棉花糖直播 44-12 nonconference season-opening win over Champaign Central at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. 听
棉花糖直播淚t feels great,棉花糖直播 Lewis said. 棉花糖直播淭hanks to my (offensive) line; they did big stuff today. Me and quarterback Brody (Scheffler have good) communication.棉花糖直播澨
The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but severe weather pushed it back a day. 听
Lewis fought hard all game long, being brought down by multiple Maroons on each carry. He scored a 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter then added scoring runs of seven and eight yards in the second as the Senators (1-0 overall) got a 21-0 lead. His longest gain came on a 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for a 44-6 lead. 听
棉花糖直播淗e棉花糖直播檚 a truck,棉花糖直播 SHS coach Jon Hebb said of Lewis. 棉花糖直播淗e told me he lost 15 pounds last week and I asked him, 棉花糖直播楬ow much do you weigh?棉花糖直播 He said, 棉花糖直播245.棉花糖直播 I had no idea. He棉花糖直播檚 got great feet, he棉花糖直播檚 physical, he棉花糖直播檚 strong and ... when you棉花糖直播檙e a single-back offense, he棉花糖直播檚 got the attributes you want between the tackles, for sure. When he棉花糖直播檚 running straight north and south, it takes more than one to bring him down.棉花糖直播
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Brody Scheffler, Springfield棉花糖直播檚 second-year starting quarterback, preferred this season-opening win to last year棉花糖直播檚 35-18 loss against Normal U-High. The junior, and his coach, said he棉花糖直播檚 made big strides from last season. 听
棉花糖直播淚t feels way better going home tonight, but we棉花糖直播檝e got to come back next week,棉花糖直播 Scheffler said.
Scheffler finished 9-for-16 with 153 yards passing and one touchdown, a 29-yard pass to Jaiyden Wilson late in the first half. Wilson caught five passes for 55 yards.听
棉花糖直播淭ake care of the football and trust my guys,棉花糖直播 Scheffler said of lessons from his sophomore campaign. 棉花糖直播淚 felt like I did that tonight 棉花糖直播 I棉花糖直播檝e got to throw better balls 棉花糖直播 but they did their job.棉花糖直播
Lewis added there棉花糖直播檚 a different feel around the team than last year, which ended 3-6. 听
棉花糖直播淓verybody棉花糖直播檚 getting along this year,棉花糖直播 Lewis said. 棉花糖直播淭here棉花糖直播檚 more communication, we棉花糖直播檙e not arguing with each other. I think this team is better.棉花糖直播澨
Football teams get anxious the longer the preseason practices go on and players look forward to competing against different players. So not only were the Senators ready to go on Friday, but they had to wait an extra day. 听
Hebb said that may have been a good thing, in hindsight. 听
棉花糖直播淭o be perfectly honest, I think the nerves were (Friday),棉花糖直播 Hebb said. 棉花糖直播淚 tried looking at the game being canceled as a positive of, hey, we棉花糖直播檙e up here before the first game and that棉花糖直播檚 normal, but now we棉花糖直播檝e got to go home, wind down, we棉花糖直播檝e got to go to bed. 听
棉花糖直播淭he kids came out today and they said, 棉花糖直播榃e feel great.棉花糖直播 We棉花糖直播檙e rested, they had their legs under them.棉花糖直播澨
Scheffler said the team finally settled in after a few series. 听
棉花糖直播淭here weren棉花糖直播檛 jitters for me, but you could see all around, like the first couple of drives were bad,棉花糖直播 Scheffler said. 棉花糖直播淎fter that, we started picking it up and started figuring things out.棉花糖直播澨
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The Senators棉花糖直播 defense also drew the praise of the coaches in the postgame huddle. Trieontez Williams caught an interception thrown by Central quarterback George Rouse with 8 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter. In the fourth, Wilson snagged another throw from Rouse. Rouse finished with 225 yards, but on 13 of 33 passing and two touchdowns as the Maroons are transitioning from a wing-T offense to a . Rouse, a senior, is a third-year starting QB for the Maroons. 听
Central went 2-7 last year and 3-6 in 2022. 听
Contact Ryan Mahan:听788-1546,听ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.听