Libertyville defenders strike take a winning stance
At last, Libertyville's senior defensive players could stand and rest. And smile.
No three-point or other defensive stances required. A Wildcat could just wrap a beat-up hand around the exhausted guy next to him and proudly stick out that black jersey.
The Boys in Black are back. Libertyville is back in the Class 7A state semifinals for the second year in a row. After the third-seeded Wildcats held off No. 6 Normal Community 41-27 on a sunny afternoon in Libertyville, the home-team seniors stuck around for a long time posing for group pictures.
No hurrying up. They had enough of that Saturday.
"It's so sad to say this is our last home game as seniors," defensive end Ben Kimpler said. "When one person needs to step up, or we need the team to step up, regardless of whether it's offense or defense, one person makes that one play to get the crowd going."
Even with wily Riley Lees being wily Riley Lees, scoring 4 more touchdowns to give him 30 for the season and rushing for 314 yards, Libertyville needed more, especially with senior linebacker Hunter Reimers out after tearing up his knee last week. In particular, the Wildcats needed guys on defense to make plays against a Normal offense that found its confidence after halftime. After being held scoreless in the first half and spotting Libertyville a 21-0 lead, the Ironmen did nothing but move the football. Their hurry-up offense produced 4 TDs on their first 4 possessions of the second half, putting together drives of 7, 9, 10 and 9 plays.
"We knew they ran about one play every 20 seconds," senior safety Brian Murphy said. "(In practice), we worked on lining up quicker and getting our calls in faster."
It's not that easy.
"I can't lie," senior linebacker Riley Buncic said. "It was an up-tempo offense, and it really caught us off-guard in the second half. We just had to play better."
On Normal's fifth series of the second half, the relentless Ironmen were at it again. They marched 73 yards on 12 plays to get to the Libertyville 7, trailing 41-27 with just more than six minutes left in the fourth quarter.
On second-and-goal from the 7, Kimpler tipped a pass, which fell incomplete. On third down, QB Grant Price was about to spin into the end zone when he was popped by Murphy, who hit so hard his helmet strap popped off.
"When we go goal-line situation, I usually cheat up a little bit and play more of a strong safety/linebacker," Murphy said. "I read run, I saw him run, and then I saw him spin out of something. I knew I had to make a play, so I just took off and did what I could."
Normal had already converted twice on fourth down on the drive. This time, from the 1, the Wildcats' other wily Riley, Buncic, stopped Alec Bozarth for no gain.
"He made a heck of a stop," Murphy said.
The tackle came with a price. Buncic banged his shoulder hard. He lay on the turf for a minute, while Libertyville athletic trainers attended to him. Buncic then bounced to his cleats and jogged off the field.
He says he'll be fine for the Wildcats' semifinal game at Bradley-Bourbonnais.
"When I hit him, I just got a little stinger," Buncic said. "My shoulder and arm went a little numb. But it was fine pretty quickly."
Normal got the ball back one more time, but Nick Neumann intercepted a deep pass at midfield in the final minute, and Libertyville could finally celebrate. Libertyville's only other experience against a hurry-up attack this season came way back in Week 4 against Lake Forest, which used it only sparingly.
"That hurry-up offense is so hard to simulate in practice," said Kimpler, who was in on a couple of sacks, recorded 2 other tackles for loss and tipped a pair of passes. "You just got to adjust to it as fast as you can in the game."
The Wildcats finally did, just in time.
jaguilar@dailyherald.com
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