Big night from Aiden Wardzinski helps Brentwood run past South Side

By: Steve Nagler
Friday, September 27, 2019 | 11:32 PM

Aiden Wardzinski rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another to lead Brentwood to a 28-13 road win over South Side Beaver.

The Spartans (5-1, 4-0 in Three Rivers Conference) came into this pivotal Week 5 contest without their starting quarterback, John Milcic. The senior was involved in a scrum late in their 34-0 win against Frazier last week and was ineligible to play.

Sophomore Jase Keib filled in, completing 7 of 18 passes for 103 yards but threw three first-half interceptions. Keib also ran for 19 yards and a touchdown.

After South Side (2-4, 2-2) received the opening kick and went three-and-out, Brentwood scored on its opening possession. Wardzinski connected with Eddie Gomez on a halfback pass for 46 yards to give the Spartans an early 7-0 lead.

The Rams struggled offensively for much of the first half but put their best drive together just before halftime. They came up empty when Dominic Marino fumbled with 58 seconds to go in the second quarter at the Brentwood 25-yard line.

The Rams gave away another opportunity midway through the third quarter when quarterback Aden Almashy fumbled on fourth down at the Brentwood 8 with 6 minutes, 33 seconds to go.

South Side eventually tied the score late in the third quarter on a 33-yard touchdown run by Andrew Moots. The Rams were faced with fourth-and-4 when Moots took the handoff off the left side for the game-tying score.

Keib gave the Spartans the lead back, 13-7, on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 6:38 left in the game.

On the Rams’ ensuing drive, Brentwood’s Gomez stripped Almashy and Brentwood recovered at the 50-yard line. It was the fourth turnover of the night for South Side.

One play later, Wardzinski went untouched off right tackle, extending Brentwood’s lead to 21-7 when he ran in the 2-point conversion.

Wardzinski touched the ball one more time — a 79-yard run with 2:42 to play to put the game out of reach.

“Aiden was great tonight,” Brentwood’s Kevin Kissel said. “We said we knew we had to run the ball without John Milcic. Jase played a good game but he’s not the quarterback Milcic is yet. We knew if we could run the ball, it would open up the passing game for Jase.”

The Rams scored the final touchdown, a 24-yard pass from Trenton Seik to Brannon Barber, but it was too little, too late.

“It was a great win on the road. We talked about it all week,” Kissel said. “To come in here without our starting quarterback is tough, so to get the win is huge.”

Tags: Brentwood, South Side