Glenbard West stopped short
East St. Louis held Glenbard West's renaissance men a game shy of their destination.
East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett said he'd called the winning play "maybe three times" - the Statue of Liberty, on fourth-and-goal from Glenbard West's 11-yard line.
A split second before Hilltoppers linebacker Garrett Richards met East St. Louis quarterback Detchauz Wray on a fake sprintout right, Wray flipped the ball to tailback Courtney Molton with the left side of the field at his disposal.
Molton's run and Jeremy Nicholson's kick with 7:55 left gave No. 2 seed East St. Louis a 27-20 victory in a Class 7A semifinal at Duchon Field in Glen Ellyn on Saturday.
"They did just what we thought they'd do, they flowed hard over the top," Sunkett said. "It was Courtney one-on-one with a corner out there, and we'll take that matchup any time."
No. 1 seed Glenbard West (12-1) took over at its 28-yard line and made the Flyers' 25 before Chris Cochrane's screen pass on fourth-and-4 from East St. Louis' 25-yard line fell incomplete.
A fourth-down stand earned Glenbard West another shot with 8.3 seconds left at the Flyers' 35-yard line.
Two incompletions in the end zone denied the Hilltoppers' first championship berth since the 1983 Class 5A title team. East St. Louis (12-1) seeks its seventh overall title and first since 1991 in the Class 7A final against Geneva.
"It's great getting the program back to the semifinals since '83," said Glenbard West all-state lineman Chris Watt, "but you can't help but being extremely disappointed because we've been working all year on getting to the point next week where we could be playing for a state championship."
East St. Louis showed its athleticism early. Receiver Terry Hawthorne ran the open field like a deer on touchdown catch-and-runs of 40, 81 and 4 yards, including the tying and go-ahead scores to put the Flyers up 20-14 at halftime.
Glenbard West had led 14-7 on Cochrane's 52-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Condie and Cochrane's 2-yard sneak behind center Tim O'Neil at 3:46 of the second quarter.
East St. Louis' stout defense stopped Condie a half-yard shy of the goal line on Glenbard West's first possession and contained the Hilltoppers' dominant ground game to 132 yards on 42 carries.
"They had good tackling," said Glenbard West's Bryant Venson, who had 52 yards on 18 carries and tied the score 20-20 on a 1-yard run at 5:57 of the third quarter. "To stop me and Robert (Cook) they had very good tackling that stopped us from our big runs."
Cook ran for 44 yards before leaving with a separated shoulder late in the first half, among several things that, unlike the rest of the Hilltoppers' season, didn't go their way.
"I've got nothing but praise for our kids," coach Chad Hetlet said. "They had a great season and did a nice job. I'm sad that they don't get an opportunity to go downstate, but that's how it goes."