West’s defense dominates in victory over Collinsville

Belleville West’s stingy defense held Collinsville to 38 yards rushing on 30 carries, and only 45 yards in total offense. The Maroons also took advantage of three Kahoks’ turnovers, which led to 21 points, in a 43-7 victory Friday night in Collinsville.

West jumped to an early 7-0 lead after Jack Lanxon intercepted his first of two passes a minute and 42 seconds into the first quarter and ran in it back for a 40-yard touchdown.

Lanxon intercepted his second Jordan Reichert pass midway through the third quarter. The Collinsville senior quarterback completed 3 of 10 passes for 72 yards, with the two interceptions.

West outside linebacker Nick Forster also forced Reichert a fumble the early in the third quarter. That sack came back to haunt Collinsville as Kaylan Nelson picked up the loose ball and returned 8 yards or a touchdown to give West (2-2) a 29-7 lead with 7:06 left in the third.

Nelson’s fumble was the turning point in the game. West controlled the play early, and took a 23-0 lead into halftime.

But Collinsville took the opening kickoff in the third quarter and marched on a seven-play, 47-yard scoring drive capped by Reinhart’s 5-yard touchdown run. Kahoks wide receiver Rhett Romanick set up the score with a 31-yard reception from Rheinhart.

Collinsville’s defense stopped West on four plays during its ensuing offensive series.

But the Kahoks were unable to score the rest of the night.

“Our offensive stats weren’t very good,” Collinsville coach Rick Reinhart said. “Plain and simple: It was poor execution on our part. I’m in charge of the offense so that’s one me. For us at this time of the season, to be jumping offsides, granted we had a bunch of injuries, it looked like we are an unorganized chaos.”

Pettus believes Collinsville’s early turnover set the game’s tone.

“I thought our defense played really well,” he said. “Our D-line stuck in them up front. I am very excited with our effort on defense.”

Collinsville finished the game with 10 penalties.

West running back Jarrell Anderson made the most of his first start and turned in the offensive performance of the game. The fifth-string tailback finished with 164 yards rushing on 20 carries. He also scored two touchdowns.

Collinsville travels to Granite City; West plays at East St. Louis.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 11:25 PM with the headline "West’s defense dominates in victory over Collinsville."