This Crystal Lake South bunch truly deserves applause
Crystal Lake South's sixth-seeded football team was feeling it, and the enormous crowd that traveled from McHenry County and braved the freezing temperatures to support the Gators in a Class 7A state semifinal at Geneva was feeling it, too.
They felt it when the Gators jumped to a 3-0 lead over the top-seeded and undefeated Vikings on a first-quarter field goal by Mike Frericks, a play set up by yet another gutsy call by CL South Jim Stuglis - a fake punt run on the first series of the game by Cory Galloway that went for 38 yards.
They felt it when Steve Rogers intercepted a Geneva pass in the end zone with 4.3 seconds left in the second quarter to preserve a 9-3 lead at the half.
And they were definitely feeling it when CL South rallied from behind for the second time in the second half on a perfectly executed 12-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Drew Ormseth to senior tight end Vince Benedetto with 10:08 left in the game.
That pass put the put the Gators ahead 21-18 and put them in prime position to knock off a higher seed for the third straight week.
But Geneva running back Michael Ratay's 52-yard touchdown run up the gut on the next play from scrimmage gave Geneva the lead back and put CL South's back firmly against the wall.
The Gators (10-3) accomplished some remarkable feats in their four-week postseason run, but they didn't have a third comeback in them Friday night on frozen Burgess Field. They fumbled on their next possession and were forced to punt 1 possession later.
The Champaign dream, which was far closer to realization in this game than in the 2005 Class 6A semifinal when Morris clobbered the boys in green and gold 33-13, was ended when Geneva's Trevor Hyslop intercepted a pass at midfield with 1:58 to play.
Ratay, who had been bottled up by the CL South defense in the first half, spun out of a tackle 2 plays later for a 36-yard gain and a first down. And that was it. The Vikings (13-0) knelt, and the Gators' magical season came to a sudden and abrupt end.
After the game Stuglis, as he did after the loss to Morris in 2005, thanked his players for giving their hearts and souls to the program during an emotional postgame huddle.
"You are 2008 semifinalists," he told his team, his voice cracking, "one of the top four teams in the state. You made history. You made yourselves into something special and don't ever forget that. Don't let this loss take anything away from that. Thank you, seniors."
Everyone standing around the huddle at that point - the junior players, coaches, parents, girlfriends - applauded warmly, though their fingers had probably gone numb an hour earlier.
It's a group of seniors that deserves applause. Many of the seniors who started Friday's game rarely saw the field a year ago. Yet, there they were slugging it out with a team that started the season near the top of the 7A rankings.
Winning three playoff games after a 7-2 regular season was a victory for team play. The players believed in themselves and each other enough to pull off two straight upsets and scare the pants off the top seed in one of the best back-and-forth tilts you can hope to see so deep into the playoffs.
No, the Gators don't get to play for the title next week after coming so close. And even though the pain of coming within arm's reach of a title-game berth will linger for some time, the overriding sentiment as the seniors cried and hugged one another before they walked off the football field for the final time was appreciation - for each other and for what they were able to accomplish together.
This team feared no one, and it showed in the way the 2008 Gators played throughout their tremendous playoff run.
"Our work ethic put us further than a first-round playoff loss," Benedetto said. "I hope we taught these juniors and sophomores that same work ethic.
"I hope next year they won't just knock on the door but kick that door down and win a title."
BEGIN_ATTRIBUTIONjfitzpatrick@dailyherald.comEND_ATTRIBUTION