'Last-resort play' saves St. Charles East
Falling rain, slippery football, treacherous footing.
Naturally, St. Charles East used a strong kicking game to force overtime, then won it on a pass.
On second-and-goal at the 10-yard line on Waubonsie Valley's muddy turf, Nolan Possley faked the handoff then threw a "tight end dump" to Jeff Striedl for the touchdown - the Saints' only pass completion of the night.
Dan Keller, who had kicked field goals of 32 and 33 yards, capped St. Charles East's first and final lead Friday, 21-14.
When Striedl and Bryce Barry stopped Warriors halfback Tre Clark at the 1-yard line on fourth down, St. Charles East (4-2, 4-0) had won its fourth straight game and remained tied atop the Upstate Eight Conference with Lake Park.
"We couldn't get the passing game going; it was too wet," Striedl said. "The last-resort play ended up working."
"Jess had a great catch there," said Possley, who ran for 157 of the Saints' 297 rushing yards. "I threw behind him, he adjusted and made a great catch."
It was great catch-up after Waubonsie Valley (3-3, 2-2) led 14-3 just into the fourth quarter on Maurice Bowman's 2-yard touchdown run, his second score of the game.
Possley responded with his personal 5-play, 75-yard scoring drive behind Saints linemen Charles Ratajczak, Eric Olstad, Rafael Flores, Mark Lindholm and Andrew Blackburn. Possley's 42-yard touchdown run cut Waubonsie's lead to 14-11.
Waubonsie quarterback Kenny Clay, who ran for a team-high 58 yards, scrambled left, then right, then threw to wide-open DeAngelo Gerald for an apparent 62-yard touchdown. The play was brought back by a penalty.
"That was quite a buzz kill when they threw that flag," admitted Warriors linebacker Cory Connolly.
"On a scramble you've always got a chance to have a lineman downfield because you've got a running quarterback. I don't blame anybody for that," said Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy. "We had other opportunities to make plays and we've got to make them. We've got to block better and we've got to tackle better."
Momentum switched completely on Barry's interception the very next play. Possley, Zach Zajicek and bowling ball-like Andrew Gomez slogged downfield to set up Keller's 33-yard field-goal try, with the wind.
Kevin Russell's snap, Possley's hold, and here came Keller slipping on impact, getting enough on the liner to tie the score 14-14 with 2:31 left, as he lay prone in the mud.
"Actually, Nolan Possley told me," Keller said. "I saw the sky. I couldn't see anything."