ST. JOHN | David Yancey felt a tickle in his throat sometime on Tuesday.
By Thursday, he missed football practice and half a day of school at Lake Central.
He wasn't about to let what turned out to be strep throat make him miss his last first game.
Yancey, despite his sore throat in the cool August air, ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns in Lake Central's 40-0 win against Munster on Friday.
"I was really sick this week but I had to do it for my team," Yancey said. "I couldn't break out like I wanted to; I'm still a little sick right now. I'm a little fatigued and my throat really hurts, but I'm not going to let my team down after working the whole summer."
Behind a punt return for a touchdown and a 1-yard quarterback scamper from Alec Olund, the Indians (1-0) took a quick 13-0 lead in the first quarter. But it wasn't the score L.C. coach Brett St. Germain was looking at.
"I told our kids at halftime that even though we were up 19-0 at halftime, I didn't think we were beating them," St. Germain said. "I think their kids out-played us in the first half, even though the scoreboard didn't show it. That's something that I don't tolerate, if I think another team is playing harder than us.
"I was happy with the way they played in the second half."
The Indians responded the way he'd hoped in the second half, scoring a pair of long touchdowns -- 44-yard pass from Olund to Jake Tungren and a 36-yard run by Yancey -- in the third quarter.
Yancey picked up 72 of his yards in the second half.
"I said last year and this year, whatever it takes for us to win, I just want to win," said Yancey, who played quarterback last season. "Whether it's quarterback, running back, wide receiver, I'll do whatever it takes for us to win. There are still a few scratches, but we can work those out."
Munster came within a breath of the goal line to end the first half, starting a series first-and-goal on the 2-yard line. Incomplete passes and a penalty moved the Mustangs (0-1) back and the young team couldn't recover.
"We have a very young team and as you'll see a lot of juniors and sophomores," Munster coach Leroy Marsh said. "We'll get better; they have a lot of spirit."
Munster made a pair of interceptions on Olund with Kye Tratar returning one 23 yards and Scott Shaner stopping a Lake Central drive by hitting the field as he fell out of bounds.
The Mustangs also turned the ball over three times, with a 4-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Gelen Robinson marking the final Lake Central score.
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