ICCP holds off Riverside-Brookfield

Three turnovers in a 10-second span in the final two minutes of the game capped off a wild win for IC Catholic Prep.

With 1:51 left in the game, Riverside-Brookfield was driving near the ICCP red zone trailing by 8 points. Knights defensive back Matt Sutton intercepted a pass from the Bulldogs' Ryan Swift. The next play, the Knights fumbled after a 6-yard gain and the Bulldogs recovered. But with 1:41 left in the game Sutton intercepted again.

You read that correctly. Three turnovers on three consecutive plays in 10 seconds.

ICCP (5-1, 2-0) pulled out a 15-8 Metro Suburban West victory in Riverside.

"I don't think there was ever a doubt," said Knights head coach Bill Krefft. "The defensive side of the football tonight, the defensive staff …had those kids ready, and it's 100 percent credit to the kids who believed the whole time."

Despite the loss, Riverside-Brookfield battled when it could have easily folded.

"Our kids battled through adversity tonight to finish a game off," said Bulldogs coach Brendan Curtin. "They didn't throw in the towel and they continued to fight until it read zeroes on the clock."

The entire sequence came after Krefft and the Knights declined a holding penalty near midfield. If accepted, the Bulldogs would have had a third-and-17 play but were saddled with a fourth-and-7 instead. They converted on a 21-yard pass from Swift to wide receiver Dean Zigulich.

"If they don't make a play, then we get the ball back and the game's over," Krefft said. "It's my decision and I would do it again. No doubt about it … they (Riverside-Brookfield) got it, and it's a credit to them."

The Bulldogs (5-1, 1-1) could not muster any offense after Swift snuck into the end zone at the 5:31 mark in the first quarter. R-B also spent a lot of time on its half of the field in part because of goal-line stops and a punt pinned down at its 1-yard line. The closest the Bulldogs got to scoring the rest of the night was on Sutton's two interceptions late in the game.