Drive stalls, but this program is on the move

Elk Grove's good-sized student section had vacated their midfield seats and raced toward the south end zone for a better view.

A few members of the Grenadiers' band were also providing the drumbeat to what was going to be a grand final march to the end zone in Friday night's Class 7A second-round football playoff game at St. Charles North.

Everything was in place on and off the field for the most dramatic chapter of a dramatic turnaround season for Elk Grove's program.

"That's what a couple of my best friends were saying, 'If you had the game on the line at the 5-yard line with (Nick) Meyer with the ball,'" said first-year Elk Grove coach Brian Doll, "you'd say you're going to win the game."

There was no doubt for Elk Grove senior linebacker Kyle Pfister.

"Everybody on the sideline could sense we'd get the touchdown, make the extra point and hold them on 'D,'" Pfister said.

And return to Elk Grove for a celebration and a quarterfinal home game.

Then St. Charles North linebacker Dominic Imbordino intercepted those plans and Meyer's third-and-goal pass for Matt McEnery in the end zone with 43 seconds left to preserve a 20-14 victory.

But even though this suddenly turned into an unhappy ending it also appears to only be the beginning for a program which made big strides in Doll's first season.

"It feels great to be the team that turned it around here," Meyer said of the Grenadiers' first playoff trip since 2004.

"All of us felt real proud for what we did," Pfister said. "We would have liked to have made it to the quarterfinals, but we left our mark and hopefully the juniors will take our example and do well next year."

It certainly won't hurt that 16 returning starters led by Meyer now understand playoff football. Now they know how the intensity and pressure increases as the number of teams still alive in the state decreases.

"You could sense even at halftime that it was a new atmosphere for these kids," Doll said.

Even more intense was the building pressure from St. Charles North's defense to contain Meyer. There were few avenues to run and less and less time to find McEnery, who had a phenomenal high school finale with 12 catches for 119 yards, and junior Joey Bishoff.

And the North Stars' offensive line anchored by 6-foot-7, 260-pound Ryan Brown was weighing heavily after halftime on Elk Grove's defense.

"They're a big team and tough and we're a little undersized," Pfister said. "As the game went on it became a little tougher to stop them and people got fatigued."

But Elk Grove never tired of trying to find a way to pull this one off. The Grens stuck together in the way McEnery described during the week and Meyer and Pfister did Friday night.

"Everyone definitely bought into what we're doing here and everyone jelled," said Meyer, who made a huge leap in his second year as a varsity starting quarterback. "It was definitely a real tight-knit group and the seniors did a great job of showing the juniors what it's like on the varsity field."

Which added to the degree of difficulty for seniors such as Pfister who made sure there was no class division to break apart something special.

"The toughest part is knowing it's the last time we'll all be together," Pfister said. "It will be tough the next couple of weeks."

It will also be tough the next few months for Meyer and the rest of a talented junior class.

"This will stick with me until the first game next year," Meyer said. "It's a hard pill to swallow but we'll learn from it and come back stronger next year."

Especially since big things appear to be just beginning at Elk Grove.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com