East football players honor fallen teammate with Week 1 win over Chaney
The Akron East football team competed with the mantra of "Play for Teno" Thursday night and Friday afternoon at Ellet's Joseph B. Yost Stadium.
East senior football player Antenio Louis, 17, was shot and killed in Akron on Wednesday, one day before the Dragons' season-opening game against Youngstown Chaney.
East coaches and players were stunned to hear the news of Louis' death, another teenager lost to gun violence in the United States.
"We were heartbroken," East junior ZiVelle Thomas said Friday after East defeated Chaney 14-13 in the completion of Thursday's game, which was postponed by lightning and heavy rain.
Thomas described Louis as "goofy and cool."
"We had to come out and ball for him," Thomas said. "Everything we did was for him."
East coach Marques Hayes said Louis was at practice Tuesday and was on his way to practice Wednesday when he was fatally shot.
"I talked to him at 12:30 Wednesday [afternoon] and he gave me his shoe size because we were going to pick him up some cleats for the game," Hayes said Friday. "He texted me at 3:30, telling me, 'Hey, coach, I am pretty much waiting for my grandma to get off work to come get me and get me to practice.' So he wasn't going to be at practice until 4:30.
"We got a call from his grandmother while we were on the practice field. One of my coaches came over and told me, 'Hey, Teno's grandmother just called and told me that he is dead.' You talk about a wave of emotions."
Hayes and his staff informed their players and reminisced about Louis.
"The young man on Tuesday had the biggest smile on his face," Hayes said. "He was getting ready to play his first varsity football game. He was at St. Vincent-St. Mary his freshman and sophomore years. He came over to East his junior year, but his grades from St. V were not eligible for him to play."
Louis improved his grades to the point where he was eligible to play this season. Hayes said Louis was "a dynamic kid" who played running back, wide receiver and defensive back and returned kickoffs and punts.
"We felt bad," East senior Ibraheem Kamara said Friday. "I could see it in everyone's eyes after he passed. It hurt everybody."
East senior captains Antonio Rosser, Keith Kendrick and Cochise Griffin wore long white T-shirts under their red jersey tops with the words "LONG LIVE TENO" in red ink during Thursday's coin toss. Players held up Louis' No. 15 red jersey.
"We owed him a win," East junior Ziaire Stevens said Friday. "He was happy to get to play in this game. We just came out here and balled for him. Everything we did was for him."
Akron East earns Week 1 win over Youngstown Chaney
East utilized big plays Thursday to build a lead as Kamara returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and Stevens broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Kamara made both extra point kicks.
"One of our players hit [Chaney starting quarterback Matt Jones] and he was out for a play," Kamara said. "Coach said when we were watching film that the backup QB was basically going to throw the ball to me. It was like us watching film. He threw the ball straight to me and I took it home.
"... It feels great to get this win. Coach has been saying since January that this season we have eight home games [at Ellet] and teams are coming to our field [in Akron] and we have to get these wins."
Stevens ran for 185 yards on 18 carries.
"Our coach has been telling us for the past two days what it takes to get a win," Stevens said. "We just wanted to come out and dominate and play as a team. Even when mistakes were happening, we kept our heads in the game and got the victory.
"... We were pounding the ball play after play. My linemen Nico [Nicholas Hopfe], Keith Kendrick, Cochise Griffin, Sprag [Darshawn Spragling] and DJ [Denico Knight Jr.] were getting tired, but they were still doing their job. We play physical ball."
Jones paced Chaney's offense with 87 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries and he completed 7 of 9 passes for 87 yards.
East's defense forced three turnovers and Rosser made a tackle near the goal line during a Chaney two-point conversion attempt after Jones' second TD with 1:44 remaining in the game.
Kamara had his interception return for a TD, and Thomas forced two fumbles in the first half Thursday that were recovered by sophomore Latrelle Allen and Rosser.
"In the beginning of the game Thursday, we came out rough," Thomas said Friday. "That pick-six by Ibraheem really helped us for real. We just had to bring it all together today after halftime."
Hayes said he was pleased with how his players responded.
"We talked to the team about, 'Obviously, you guys are going to be playing with heavy hearts, and you gotta understand that mind games are going to be played out there on the football field to try to get you out of your character and out of your element, but you gotta stay true to you and you gotta stay strong,'" Hayes said.
"'You guys said you want to play for Teno, so honor him in a good way, going out here and playing the game the right way.'"
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron East tops Youngstown Chaney in Week 1 high school football game
