Morton FG sinks Willowbrook
As teammates hoisted Morton kicker Rodolfo Villalon on their shoulders, Willowbrook's football players were left in stunned pain.
Villalon's 37-yard field goal in the waning seconds lifted the Mustangs to Saturday's 17-16 West Suburban Gold win over Willowbrook on its homecoming in Villa Park.
The Warriors (0-5, 0-2) dealt with the pain of the moment as well as the realization that their fifth loss means elimination from playoff qualification.
Willowbrook scored 16 straight points while building a 16-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Morton (2-3, 2-1) scored 10 points in the final 5:36 to pull out the victory. The game-winning drive started on Morton's 10-yard line with 1:06 left and the Mustangs holding no timeouts.
"They start that drive on the 10 and we don't make plays," said Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth, whose team played without starting quarterback Billy Degnan and running back David Harris. "That's on us. Nobody feels bad for you in this sport. You move on and you've got to bounce back. We've got to get back to work."
Mustangs quarterback Anthony Stanciu engineered an 8-play, 70-yard drive featuring two keepers for 17 yards and three completions for 38. A huge 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Warriors set up Morton deep in Willowbrook territory.
A 10-yard pass from Stanciu to Chuck Bonesz got the ball to the 20-yard line, and Villalon's kick made it through the uprights for the game-winning points. Not bad for a guy playing his first year of organized football.
"I knew my team was going to get as close as we can so I could kick the game-winning field goal," said Villalon, a converted soccer player. "It was just like in practice. Before I kicked it I took a deep breath and just pretended like I was in practice again."
Morton's Jose Muratallo opened the scoring with a 2-yard first-quarter touchdown run, but Warriors junior running back Josan Murphy began a huge day by bursting for a 40-yard touchdown run just after his 78-yard punt return was negated by offsetting penalties. The extra-point snap was muffed, however, keeping Morton's halftime lead at 7-6.
After Paul Yacoub's 24-yard third-quarter field goal put Willowbrook ahead 9-7, Murphy - who finished with 43 carries for 242 yards - added a 2-yard touchdown dive with 9:09 left in the game to extend the Warriors' margin to 16-7.
Stanciu's 9-yard touchdown pass to Keandre Townes narrowed the gap to 16-14 with 5:36 left. Willowbrook picked up three first downs on the ensuing possession to drain the clock to less than two minutes and force the Mustangs to use their final two timeouts.
Even after Josh Berry's punt pinned Morton at its 10-yard line with 1:06 left and no timeouts, however, the Mustangs somehow worked downfield for Villalon's heroics.
"It was great composure by the kids," said Morton coach Bob Organ. "We couldn't run a two-minute drill any better than we did right there."
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