Late FG lifts Lisle
If the Lisle football players were wondering whether patience really is a virtue, all doubt was removed Friday night at Benedictine University.
With visiting Seneca controlling the ball for 29 of the game's 48 minutes, the opportunities for Lisle's offense to shine were few and far between, but the Lions made the most of the game's final 2 minutes, 40 seconds, traveling 67 yards in 12 plays to set up Michael Reeves' 30-yard field goal with 28 seconds left that gave them a hard-fought 10-7 victory in the Interstate Eight Conference Small Division opener for both teams.
"Once we got the ball back, we had confidence because we practice that two-minute offense every day in practice," said Lisle quarterback Jon Surber. "And when we got down there, I had confidence in (Reeves). I knew he'd hit that; he's a good kicker."
Seeing the Lions drive for the winning score - behind crucial Surber hookups with Cameron Wright and Lee Gorski, and healthy runs from Jake Kretman - gave Lisle coach Dan Sanko the opportunity to revel in watching something work that his squad practices repeatedly.
"Jon's very poised in that situation, he makes good decisions, he's level-headed and he keeps everyone calm," Sanko said. "It's just nice to see something you work on in practice work for you in a game."
Until then, for the Lions (2-2, 1-0) it was death by 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-recycled-tires as Seneca's (0-4, 0-1) backs - mainly Meese Albarran, Jared Walsh and Josh Higgins - chewed up Benedictine's new-age FieldTurf in tiny bites, with only two of their 50 running plays gaining more than 8 yards.
On the other hand the Fighting Irish running game was so efficient that none of those attempts resulted in negative yardage. That efficiency left Lisle on the short end of a 7-0 halftime score as Josh Higgins capped a 16-play, 63-yard excursion - all on the ground - with a 1-yard plunge early in the second quarter.
After running only 13 plays to Seneca's 34 in the first half, the Lions gave the guests a taste of their own medicine by going 70 yards in 11 plays to open the second half with Jake Kretman slipping in from the 5 to tie the score 7-7.
Things looked bleak when the Irish used 17 plays to march to within 3 yards of the Lions end zone in the final three minutes, but an ineligible man downfield penalty negated a go-ahead touchdown pass before Seneca missed a 25-yard field goal to set up Lisle's winning drive.
"You're helpless, it's so frustrating," Sanko said of his feelings as Seneca crept up and down the field. "It's tough to watch that, but they do it to everybody. I'm just glad we got out of here with a win."