Larkin rallies to stop Sabres
Larkin's football team held only one lead the entire way during Friday night's homecoming clash with Streamwood.
Fortunately for the Royals, it came at the right time.
Trailing 21-6 after three quarters, the Royals (3-3, 2-2) rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions, then received a key late defensive stop during their 22-21 Upstate Eight Conference triumph at Memorial Field in Elgin.
Faced with a fourth-and-3 from the Royals' 13-yard line, the Sabres (1-5, 1-3) elected to bypass what would have been a 30-yard field goal try and go for a first down with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Streamwood tailback Derrick King (17 carries, 125 yards) took the pitch from quarterback Noel Rivera but ran head-on into the Royals' Cody Schue and Reid Ellis a couple yards shy of the first down with 1:19 left.
"It's one of those things," said Sabres coach Cal Cummins. "We thought our best opportunity at that point was to just try to get the first down."
"Our defensive line was having trouble getting their offensive linemen off of them," said Larkin coach Matt Gehrig. "But when push came to shove, we got lower than them and were able to push them back."
The 6-foot-2, 265-pound Schue was just happy his team emerged with the much-needed victory.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world - that we won a homecoming game and now all we need is two more (wins) to go to the playoffs," said the junior defensive lineman. "I guess we wanted it more."
Shooting for its first 2-game winning streak since 2003, Streamwood played a near-flawless first half while building a 15-point advantage.
Jim Kaltinger's fumble recovery helped set up the Sabres' first score, as Rivera (7-for-11, 136 yards, 2 TDs) connected with Kaltinger for a 26-yard TD pass on a 4th-and-11 play to give the visitors a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Senior quarterback Justin Kalusa answered with a 21-yard touchdown run on the Royals' next possession but the extra-point try failed, leaving the Sabres on top 7-6.
On the first play from scrimmage after the Larkin touchdown, King burst through the middle of the Royals' defense for a 67-yard TD run to make it 14-6.
Streamwood then engineered a 14-play, 83-yard drive that was capped by Rivera's 8-yard TD strike to Tem Esikiel with 19.5 seconds left in the opening half. Dion Banda's third PAT kick of the night made it 21-6 at the intermission.
"They had more energy and intensity in the first half and obviously it showed," Gehrig said of the Sabres. "They came out and played smashmouth football.
"But I'm proud of the effort our guys came out and made in the second half."
That effort included Kalusa's 5-yard TD pass to Alex Wahl and subsequent 2-point conversion pass to John Hosey with 11:32 remaining in the fourth quarter, and Brandon Cooks' 2-yard TD run - followed by Jalen Williams' 2-point conversion run with 6:51 left.
"It was an easy decision (going for the 2-point conversions) because we've been having trouble converting PATs," said Gehrig. "It worked out in our favor."