Saints advance on Allen's TD with 1:03 remaining

It's difficult to be patient with your team trailing by 10 points at halftime.

But sometimes perseverance pays off.

Thanks to a stingy second-half defensive effort and ever-reliable senior running back Wes Allen, St. Charles East's football team rallied from a 13-3 halftime deficit to knock off defending Class 7A state champion Lake Zurich 17-13 in Saturday's first-round playoff game at Norris Stadium.

With the victory, the seventh-seeded Saints (8-2) will visit No. 2 Cary-Grove (10-0) in next weekend's second round after the Trojans blanked Rockford Guilford 47-0 Saturday night.

Held to just 57 first-half rushing yards, the Saints opened the second half by turning the ball over on an interception by Bears senior linebacker Ricky Erickson.

Lake Zurich, which didn't commit a single penalty or turnover during the first 24 minutes, coughed up the ball on its second possession of the second half as Saints defensive end Jeff Marsh recovered a fumble near midfield.

Two plays later, Allen ran into a wall of Bears defenders before bouncing to the right and raced 48 yards for a touchdown that narrowed the Saints' deficit to 13-10.

"The play's supposed to go left," said Saints coach Ted Monken. "He bounced it off to the right and took it 48 yards. That got us back in it."

"It was a huge momentum shift," said Allen, who finished with 182 yards on 36 carries. "The hole wasn't there but I kept my feet moving."

Fourth-quarter interceptions by Wade Self and Aaron Lewandowski enabled the Bears to cling to their 3-point lead before a costly turnover of their own proved pivotal.

Senior defensive back Jack Leopardo's fumble recovery set up the Saints at their own 46-yard line with 4:00 remaining.

"Things weren't looking good up to that point," said Leopardo. "I'm glad I could make a play."

Faced with a 3rd-and-6 situation from the Bears' 38-yard line, officials called a defensive pass interference penalty to help keep the Saints' drive alive.

It was Lake Zurich's first penalty of the night.

"They had a lot of calls go against them as well," said Bears coach Bryan Stortz. "You can't really look at one play like that."

Four plays later, Allen took a handoff from quarterback Tim Russell and slithered around left end for an 11-yard touchdown that gave the Saints their first lead at 17-13 with 1:03 remaining.

"There's not enough to say about Wes," said Monken. "He has done such a great job for us. Like our coaches say, 'big players make big plays in big games,' and he's our big player."

Lake Zurich quarterback Peter Rantis, starting in place of injured Tanner Witt, stunned the home crowd with his 39-yard touchdown on the game's fourth play from scrimmage.

After Dan Keller's 23-yard field goal made it 7-3, Lake Zurich kicker Max Methling booted field goals of 22 and 43 yards to provide the Bears' 10-point halftime advantage.

But the Bears' ground game that generated 147 first-half yards and 11 first downs was limited to just 10 yards and 1 second-half first down.

"We started doing what we were supposed to do," said Monken. "Against a team like this, if your guys don't stay at home they can gash you with really big runs. That's what they did in the first half.

"We figured things out just enough to keep them down and off the scoreboard in the second half."

For Lake Zurich, it was a disappointing way to finish the 2008 campaign.

"We made too many mistakes and just turned the ball over," said Stortz. "You can't do that against a good team. It was a great game to be a part of.

"I think our guys had a great season. We were very successful with all the adverse situations we had to overcome. I thought that these guys really pulled together and learned how to be a team throughout this season."