St. Edward gets No. 6 - and a playoff bid
The St. Edward football team can finally rest easy. The Green Wave is in the playoffs.
Wheaton Academy probably is too, but the Warriors will have to wait and see.
In a battle of two five-win teams looking to clinch a playoff spot, St. Edward beat Wheaton Academy, 34-28, on David Hoebbel's 79-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 15.7 seconds left at Greg True Field to earn its first playoff berth since 2003 and only its third in school history.
"As soon as Nathan (Gaige) caught that ball, I went straight to tears," said St. Edward senior Shane Finnane of Gaige's game-ending interception. "It's been four really, really long years."
The Green Wave (6-3, 3-2) would have needed some help to reach the postseason with a loss, but 19 fourth-quarter points stopped them from having a nerve-racking Saturday waiting for the playoff teams to be announced.
St. Edward trailed 16-15 entering the fourth. With 6:17 remaining, quarterback Ben Lehman hit Zack VonAhnen for a 69-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed, but the Green Wave took a 21-16 lead. They increased the advantage to 28-16 with 2:32 remaining after Jordan Torres, who rushed for 134 yards, scored his second touchdown of the game.
The Warriors (5-4, 3-2) came right back. Brian Pell connected with Anthony Ritchie on a 31-yard touchdown with 1:42 left. The extra point was block as St. Edward led 28-22. After a failed onside kick, Torres fumbled and Wheaton Academy recovered on its own 39 with 1:24 to go. Five plays later, Pell hit Ritchie again for a 5-yard score with 33.1 seconds left. The extra point was blocked by the Green Wave's Jack Cholewa.
"It was one of the best back-and-forth games that I've ever been a part of," Warriors coach Ben Wilson said. "I was disappointed to be on the losing end, but proud of our kids."
The Warriors' kickoff went out of bounds. Instead of taking the ball on the 35-yard line, St. Edward coach Mike Rolando made the Warriors kick off again. This time the ball went to Hoebbel, who started left and cut back right. With downfield blocking from VonAhnen, Hoebbel found the end zone with 15.7 seconds left. The extra point was missed.
"We saw a lot of clean (Wheaton Academy) jerseys on the kickoff team," Rolando said of his decision. "I asked (special teams coach Mike Childers) which way we were going. He said, 'We're going left. There are a lot of clean jerseys over there.' Next thing you know (Hoebbel) is squeezing through some clean jerseys."
Pell threw an incompletion and an interception to Gaige to end the game as St. Edward students rushed onto the sloppy field to join the team in celebration.
"We've worked so hard the last four years and everyone deserves this. (The game-winning touchdown) wasn't for me, it was for St. Edward," said Hoebbel, who also had 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground.