BELLEVILLE – Belleville West came back from a 21-7 deficit and took advantage of four interceptions and scored three times in the fourth quarter to defeat Alton 28-21 in a Southwestern Conference game at Bob Goalby Field in Belleville.
The Redbirds jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a touchdown run from Dasani Stewart and an eight-yard pass from Andrew Jones to Javion Morgan in the first quarter, the second touchdown coming after Alton recovered a fumble deep in Maroon territory.
West cut the lead to 14-7 early in the second when quarterback Alex Poettker hit Joey Kossina from six yards out, but Alton took a 21-7 lead when Jones and Morgan connected again, this time from 21 yards to up the Redbird lead. The 21-7 score held through halftime and the third quarter.
On the first play of the final quarter, however, West drew to within 21-14 on a Poettker touchdown pass, and later tied the game after a Henry Walker interception. Antonio Mitchell connected with Poettker with 9:09 left in regulation to draw level at 21-21.
The Maroons took the lead with 6:03 to go on a three-yard run by Jordan Bruce, then sealed the game with a Tyreace Wilbourn interception with 4:33 left in regulation as the Maroons took the 28-21 win.
Both teams are now 3-5 on the season, and the Redbirds conclude their regular season at home next Friday at Public School Stadium against DeKalb, with the kickoff coming at 7 p.m. The Maroons, meanwhile, travel to CBC for their season finale.
