Patriots' rally falls short as Fremd wins
In a game marked by big plays, Fremd's forced turnover with 5:42 remaining turned out to be a game-saver.
Stevenson had just moved into scoring territory on an interception return by Mike Bilton from his own 40 to the Fremd 9.
But two plays later Kevin Krieter stripped Bilton, who had just caught a screen pass, and Mike Tauchman fell on it to preserve the Vikings' 21-19 victory in the Class 8A football playoff opener at Hale Hildebrandt Field in Palatine.
The Vikings (10-0) will either host Loyola or play at Warren in the second round. Those teams play at 1 p.m. today in Wilmette.
"Big plays in big games," said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci. "That's two years in a row they were ready to win the game, and we took it away from them."
"I punched it out … and Mike Tauchman fell on it," said Krieter, a senior who missed last year with a broken ankle.
"I saw Krieter come up and thought I saw the receiver spin away," Tauchman said. "Then I saw the ball roll and thought it might roll out of bounds. (Nick) Hillard was there with me."
Fremd led 21-7 at halftime, thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Mark Tolzien (10-of-23 for 164 yards and 1 interception) sandwiched around a 3-yard run by Mike Gyetvay (25 carries, 85 yards).
Tolzien hit Mike Koeneman (4 catches for 73 yards) in stride for a 30-yard touchdown with 6:46 left in the first quarter, and he connected with Tauchman for a 20-yard TD pass with 57.6 seconds left in the first half.
"It was a play-action pass," Koeneman said. "I got behind the defender, and the pass was waiting for me."
"Mike's an unbelievable receiver," Tolzien said. "I just throw it up there for him to catch."
Stevenson (5-5) tied the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter when Mark Weisman (12 carries, 44 yards) bulled over the goal line from 3 yards.
The Patriots made things happen in the second half. They converted a pair of fourth downs -- once on an encroachment penalty on Fremd and later on a 28-yard pass from Zach Wujcik (14-of-27 for 138 yards, 1 interception), to give the Patriots first-and-goal at the 2.
Three plays later, Wujcik connected with Geoffrey Matthews coming out of the backfield for a 6-yard touchdown, cutting the score to 21-13 with 5:32 left in the third.
The Patriots worked a short field after a 15-yard facemask penalty at the end of a punt return gave them the ball on the Fremd 22. Five plays later, Matthews scored from 5 yards with 8:26 left in the game. Wujcik's attempted 2-point conversion pass was dropped.
"We played a great second half," Stevenson coach Bill Mitz said. "The kids made some great plays to keep it going. Matthews, the whole group played well in the second half.
"We expected to win," Mitz said, despite a 2-15 seed disparity. "Some people thought it would be an upset if we won, but we didn't.
"We've come through a lot and fought through a lot of adversity," Mitz said. "Especially after an 0-3 start."