Holmes, Wildcats happily make history
On a sloppy Friday night, where the game began with a 42-minute weather delay and had another of 39 minutes before halftime, Wheeling shut out visiting Hersey 27-0 in a Mid-Suburban East football game to obtain a playoff berth.
In the slop and sludge of the deteriorating field, the Wildcats' offensive line created ample time for the running and passing game to develop as they clinched consecutive postseason trips for the first time in school history.
"The O- line created a lot of time in this stuff [ground] here," said Wildcats coach Dave Dunbar, "It's hard to have footing out here, but they did a great job pushing the ball into the end zone."
It was not much of a passing game for either team, but Wildcats' senior quarterback Matt Holmes (5-for-10, 106 yards passing; 16 carries, 76 yards) managed to throw 3 touchdowns. Senior slot receiver Michael Zimmer was his target on two scores.
"I always had a clean ball to throw," said Holmes, "My receivers did a great job keeping their footing in the mud and holding onto the ball."
The Wildcats' (6-3, 4-1) defense was a big factor in the game. They capitalized by recovering fumbles on three occasions, intercepting 2 passes and stopping the Huskies on fourth down twice.
Junior quarterback Steve Nelson (9-for-23, 142 yards) and the Huskies (1-8, 1-4) showed some form of ball movement the whole game. However, they could never reach the end zone on each of these occasions in their final game of the season.
"We made a lot of mistakes, and lost momentum after they put up 14 points on the board in the first," said Huskies coach Mark Gunther, "Even though the record says otherwise we've come a long way this season from last season."
The Huskies go into the offseason losing only three seniors on offense and four on defense.
The Wildcats move into the playoffs next week knowing they would be on the bubble with 5 wins.
"Our guys just knew what was on the line tonight," said Wildcats offensive coordinator Matt Mishler. "We got the job done and controlled our own destiny."
Stevenson 56, Mundelein 0: Stevenson's football team came that close to accomplishing one of its defensive goals Friday night.
The Patriots ultimately achieved their bigger goal, and there was never any doubt.
Or was there?
"We seniors felt the pressure all week," cornerback Scott Diamond said. "We knew this was the game of our lives we were playing."
By night's end, Stevenson's seniors could breathe a sign a relief.
The host Patriots mauled Mundelein 56-0 in the two North Suburban Lake Division teams' regular-season finale to all but officially clinch their 20th consecutive state playoff berth, all under head coach Bill Mitz.
"We're pretty proud of that," Mitz said. "The kids are proud of that."
Stevenson (5-4, 4-2) needed a victory against Mundelein (1-8, 1-5) to be playoff-eligible. The Patriots will have more than enough playoff points to earn an at-large berth for the second year in a row.
On a night when the rain held off in Lincolnshire until the second half, the Patriots reined in the first half, building a 14-0 lead after one quarter and extending the margin to 42-0 by intermission.
While the offense had its way, the Stevenson defense contributed, too. Diamond picked off a Joe DeJesus pass at midfield - his second interception of the night - and returned it to the Mundelein 2. On the next snap, Mark Weisman (11 carries, 89 yards) scored the first of his 2 second-quarter touchdowns.
"Same thing happened to me last year," Diamond said of coming up just shy of scoring a touchdown on an interception. "Against North Chicago I got down to the 1.
"Our goal all year has been to get a defensive score. I thought that would be it."
Diamond intercepted Mike O'Donaghue's option pass on the opening series of the game, and four plays later, quarterback Zach Wujcik threw a 32-yard pass to Mike Bilton in the end zone.
- Joe Aguilar