Grant beats Vernon Hills in double OT
In the year of Cameron White and DaVaris Daniels in the North Suburban Prairie Division this football season, it's been easy to overlook Tommy Bychowski.
That's what happens when you miss a month with mono and your hefty reception total from the previous season drops significantly.
But on a comfortable fall Friday night in Vernon Hills, in a Class 6A opening-round state playoff game that saw the dynamic Daniels return from missing nearly three full games with an achy ankle, Bychowski showed when it counted most that he remains one of the conference's most dangerous players.
His conversion catch in the end zone provided the winning margin in double overtime, as Grant pulled out a breathtaking, 32-31 win over its division rival, which just one week earlier won the two teams' regular-season finale by a 7-6 final.
In the first OT, Bychowski took a pitch and scored from 10 yards out.
" 'Big Game' Bychowski," fullback Dan Hourihan, who had a huge game himself, said of his teammate, who caught 56 footballs last year.
In avenging its loss from the previous week, Grant (7-3) advanced to the second round for the second straight year and will next play Huntley, a 70-63 winner over Batavia.
Grant's win mirrored last year's at Vernon Hills, when quarterback Pawel Zurkowski scored on a conversion in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
After Seb Evans scored his third touchdown of the game to put Vernon Hills (8-2) up 31-24 in the second OT, Grant responded with Hourihan finding the end zone from 2 yards out on third down.
Instead of kicking the PAT to force a third overtime, Grant went for the win.
"We wanted it. All of us wanted it," Bychowski said. "We didn't want to let this game go on any longer. Vernon Hills is a good team."
On the winning play, QB Justin Cokefair rolled to his right and found Bychowski sprinting across the middle. Bychowski snagged the ball shoulder-high, then winged it in the air, setting off a Bulldogs celebration.
"It was a good ball," Bychowski, who returned last week after missing the previous four games, said of Cokefair's pass. "They expect me to make the plays. It was a boot 72. I'm coming inside and Jimi Cokefair is going outside. You got to expect the ball in that situation. You just got to make a play."
"I was shocked at the call Jim Cramer made," Grant head coach Kurt Rous said of his offensive coordinator. "I would have gave it to Hourihan, but it was a great call because I don't think they were expecting it. We had both routes open on that. I thought (Cokefair) was going to throw to his brother on the out."
Grant, which got TD runs from Justin Cokefair (2 yards) and Hourihan (11) in the third quarter to erase a 7-3 halftime deficit, led 17-13 and had the ball with 45 seconds left in the fourth after Javier Velasquez knocked away a pass in the end zone intended for Daniels (8 catches, 75 yards).
But Vernon Hills burned three timeouts, got the ball back and forced OT when Brian Smith nailed a 37-yard field goal as time expired.
"I hit it and I thought I pulled it a little bit left," Smith said. "About halfway there I was like, 'That's going in,' and I just turned around and started running back down the field. It's the most excited I've ever been."
Hourihan gained 195 yards and scored 2 TDs on 25 carries running behind Bud Staton, Markos Andrews, Mike Bessette, Travis Stefanowski and Mike Zielinski.
"The O-line," Hourihan said, "they were down-blocking like champs. We practiced it all week. They came out and were opening huge holes."
Mind you, a week earlier, Vernon Hills' defense limited Grant to 13 rushing yards.
"It's part of the game," Cougars coach Tony Monken said. "Punch, counter punch, punch, counter punch. They found a seam and got 2 scores out of it. We found a way to stop it and got our stop right at the end to allow us to tie the ballgame up."