By Jon moffett

sports@vindy.com

warren

Carl Zallow has dreamed of being a hero ever since he was little.

He couldn’t help but fantasize about the day he would score the game-winning touchdown and be mobbed by his teammates.

That dream came true Saturday as Zallow scored the decisive touchdown for Warren JFK in a 13-7 victory over South Range at Mollenkopf Stadium.

Zallow and the Eagles were tied with the Raiders after four quarters, forcing overtime. The Eagles (1-0) won the toss and elected to play second. The Raiders (0-1) took the ball 20 yards away from the end zone, but after three rushing attempts, advanced only one yard.

That set up a field goal try by junior Cole Krumpak, who hooked the ball left of the uprights.

The Eagles took over and on the first play, Zallow took the handoff, raced around left end and into his own dream.

Fans cheered, teammates swarmed and public-address announcer Ryan Keller bellowed “touchdown!” as the junior crossed the goal line.

“It feels much better tonight than it did in the dream,” Zallow said.

While everyone will talk about the last play, the game’s first play was just as memorable.

Robert Seger let the opening kickoff take a bounce before hauling it in at his own 15 yard line. The Warren JFK junior then made a sharp cut to the right and raced 85 yards for the score.

First-year head coach Dave Pappada, who was promoted to replace long-time head coach Tony Napolet, said he was proud of his squad for scoring first in regulation and also in overtime.

“I’m just glad we scored last,” he said. “It was a great effort by the players and the coaching staff as well.”

Seger had a pair of interceptions, and teammates Dominic Naples and John Hilty each added one for the Eagle defense.

Junior fullback Jon Kenney had 19 carries for 97 yards and the only touchdown, a one-yard run, for the Raiders. Junior quarterback Ross Stoffer finished 8-of-22 for 107 yards.

“Coming into a place like this against a very good team like [Warren] JFK, you’ve got to play a perfect game. And we didn’t play a perfect game,” said Raiders coach Dan Yeagley. “We made special teams mistakes, we had turnovers and we did things you just can’t do against good teams because they’ll make you pay.”

Zallow led the Eagles with 77 yards on seven carries. Teammate Alec Rossi had 46 yards on nine carries.