One wild win for Warren
Standing near the same end of the field where his teammate Jacob Lange blocked a chip-shot field goal to force overtime, Jalen Powe turned his back on maybe the most exciting football game he's ever played in.
Instead, he relied on the cheers and happy screams from his teammates and fans to tell him the exciting outcome. Brandon Hergenreder's PAT kick lifted No. 22 Warren to a 42-41 win over No. 11 Curie in a Class 8A state playoff opener at Lane Stadium in Chicago on Saturday night.
"I couldn't watch the PAT," Powe said. "I just couldn't. I was too nervous. Thank God Brandon hit it."
Warren (6-4) could be grateful for its starting safety/return specialist Powe, who provided a boost at quarterback in the second half. His efforts allowed the visiting Blue Devils to rally from one-touchdown deficits five times after halftime.
"He's a competitive runner," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. "He's a talented runner."
The victory lifted the Blue Devils into Round 2 and a home game against No. 6 Naperville Central (9-1).
"Unbelievable," Powe said of Warren's second OT win this season.
"Lack of words (to describe it)," Lange said.
Powe's second rushing TD of the game pulled the Blue Devils even in overtime, after Chris Baldwin's third touchdown of the game allowed Curie (8-2) to strike first in the extra session. A high snap led to a missed PAT kick try for the Condors, setting the stage for a Warren victory if the Blue Devils could put the ball in the end zone.
It seemed all but a foregone conclusion considering the way Powe was shredding Curie's defense.
With his team trailing 14-7 at halftime, McNulty inserted Powe at QB and lined him up in "Wildcat" formation.
"We haven't used it a lot since Week 4 or so," McNulty said. "He's so important to what we do on defense and the kicking game. We just felt like we needed a little spark. And he gave it to us."
Powe finished with 118 yards rushing on just 12 carries, all in the second half. On Warren's first possession of the second half, the senior busted off runs of 13, 10 and 6 yards, before throwing a jump pass to tight end Zach Schultz, who rumbled into the end zone from 29 yards out, tying the score at 14-14.
In the fourth quarter, with Warren trailing 21-14, Powe's elusive running helped set up Kyle Debevec's 3-yard TD toss to Micah Jones. Powe's touchdown from 2 yards out tied the score at 35-35 with 1:24 left in regulation.
"I had some great blocking up front," Powe said of his performance after halftime. "I'm just so glad right now."
Starting quarterback Debevec also gave the Blue Devils a jolt in the second half. His 50-yard TD pass to Jalin Tolbert on a slant - after Curie's Anthony Watson raced 81 yards into the end zone on a reverse - tied the score at 28-28 with 6:07 to go in the fourth. Tolbert's TD capped a frenzied sequence that saw the two teams combine for 3 touchdowns in 46 seconds.
After Powe's fourth-quarter TD, Curie marched to the Warren 4. After McNulty called back-to-back timeouts with nine seconds on the clock, Lange blocked a 20-yard field goal try to Roberto Hernandez, who had made all 5 of his PAT kicks. Warren's Eric Yunker scooped up the ball and raced about 50 yards before being tackled as time expired.
"I was getting through all night and just coming up short," said Lange, who also starts at safety. "I just knew I had to give it my all in a big moment."
Curie QB Mike Goldsmith rushed 22 times for 188 yards, and Baldwin added 149 yards on the ground on 21 carries. But Warren found a way, despite never leading until Hergenreder drilled the winning kick. Hergenreder was 6-for-6 on PAT kicks, while Darrius Crump added 93 yards rushing and a TD (19 carries) for the Blue Devils.
"These kids don't stop," McNulty said. "That's one thing we always preach in the program. I told these kids at the beginning of the half, 'How you finish the second half will say everything about your character, not whether you win or lose.' And they finished it with such high character."