Undefeated Lincoln Park, star QB Cam Toussaint handle Westinghouse
Sooner or later, Cam Toussaint and Lincoln Park won't be under the radar any longer.
Toussaint's experience and dual-threat capability make him one of the city's elite quarterbacks, and the Lions still haven't lost in their first year back in the Public League Red.
Facing their toughest test of the season on Saturday, Toussaint and Lincoln Park held off host Westinghouse 22-14.
Toussaint passed for 108 yards and ran 13 times for 54 yards and a touchdown. Michael Jones raced 48 yards for the go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter and finished with 74 yards on seven carries, while Kamari Jones also had a touchdown run.
"Cam had a great game," Lincoln Park coach Andres Flores said. "He's done it all year: makes good decisions, rolls out, great with the ball in his hands. There's no other quarterback I'd rather have than Cam Toussaint ... driving down the field like that. He can run and he can throw."
Having more than one dimension was a point of emphasis for Toussaint.
"I feel like I took more strides toward developing my passing game because the feet are always gonna be there," he said. "I need the passing to go to the next level."
Toussaint is 6-2 and 160 pounds. But like a lot of high school players in the portal era he's having to work extra hard to get noticed by recruiters. He doesn't have any offers yet, but has some visits scheduled and has interest from Central Michigan and some smaller schools.
"I'm trying to get to the next level for my family, just trying to make something work," he said.
Westinghouse coach Julius Carter came away impressed with Toussaint.
"He does a tremendous job of managing the game," Carter said. "He's a threat with his legs and his arm. He has some nice athletes on the outside he can throw the ball to. I think we did a nice job of controlling the receivers today, but he did what he had to do when he needed to."
The running of Michael Jones and Kamari Jones adds another dimension to the Lions' offense.
"The running back room is always top tier," Toussaint said. "I feel like we've got the best running backs in the city right now."
Lincoln Park (7-0, 5-0) hasn't been tested much this season, other than in a 3-0 overtime win vs. Lane and a 20-10 victory over Phillips. The Lions had five shutouts in their first six games, so they didn't see getting some pushback from Westinghouse (4-3, 2-3) as a bad thing.
"We handled it great," Toussaint said. "We didn't put our heads down and start bashing ourselves. We stayed in it and knew we'd come out on top."
After graduating All-State quarterback Askia Bullie, Westinghouse is letting running back Devion Cross carry the offensive load. The junior had 25 carries for 120 yards and a TD. Mario Zavala was 7-for-13 passing for 81 yards and a 19-yard TD to Terry Ricks with two interceptions.
"I've been happy with the way my kids are playing," Carter said. "We don't have a lot of football experience. We have 16 seniors, but 10 of them are first- or second-year football players.”