Momentum deserts St. Edward

Momentum's fickle nature was on display at St. Edward Saturday.

The Green Wave seemed to have momentum squarely on their side when they took an 8-point lead, courtesy of Ben Lehman's 57-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Jaimes on the final play of the first half.

By the time 3:40 had elapsed in the third quarter, however, momentum had switched sidelines.

No. 16 Mendota scored 16 points in a 30-second span and later survived a missed 28-yard field goal attempt to escape with a 22-20 victory over No. 9 St. Edward in a Class 4A second-round playoff game at Greg True Field in Elgin, the first IHSA state football playoff game ever hosted by St. Edward.

"The kids tried and played their butts off," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "Unbelievable effort and attitude out there. Just a couple of missed opportunities where we couldn't execute."

Leading 14-6 at halftime, St. Edward (8-3) kicked off to Konner Stremlau of Mendota (7-4). The junior returned the ball 55 yards to the St. Edward 35-yard line, and the Trojans scored 6 plays later on the second of Robert Watson's 3 rushing touchdowns. Watson ran for the 2-point conversion to tie the game, 14-14, with 8:50 left in the third quarter.

Mendota then seized momentum fully when it forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return. Albert Munoz recovered the loose ball at the St. Edward 39-yard line.

"After the fumble everybody was up and ready to put it in," Watson said.

After a 31-yard gain by senior Zachery Lewis with penalty tacked on, Watson scored from 4 yards out to stake Mendota to its first lead, 20-14, with 8:20 left in the third quarter.

"We had more mistakes and they capitalized on them," said St. Edward linebacker/running back Jon Keokanlaya, whose team lost the turnover battle 2-0.

Watson again converted the 2-point try to make it 22-14. He scored all of Mendota's 22 points.

St. Edward drove to the Mendota 12-yard line on its next possession, but Lehman's pass over the middle on second-and-10 was intercepted by leaping linebacker Adam Sondgeroth at the 3-yard line.

Passing was a theme for St. Edward. Lehman completed 12 of 26 attempts for 273 yards. The Wave gained only 92 yards rushing on 23 attempts.

"They kept, eight, nine, 10 guys in the box, and we were able to really open it up and go to the air," Lehman said. "But again, missed opportunities and everything. It was hard to put points on the board."

St. Edward did draw closer on its next possession. The Wave drove 50 yards in 6 plays, capped by Keokanlaya's 17-yard run up the middle with 2:53 left in the third quarter.

St. Edward went for the tie, but the timing of Lehman's conversion pass to Matt Brockner was off, leaving Mendota with a 22-20 lead.

The Green Wave let another golden opportunity slip away on its next possession. After a 14-yard run by Lehman and a 19-yard gain by Keokanlaya set the Wave up with a first down at the Mendota 25-yard line, St. Edward ran for no gain and threw 3 straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs with 11:07 left in the game.

The Wave got the ball back one last time at their own 30-yard line with 7:04 to play. They drove 60 yards in 10 plays but were eventually forced to settle for a 28-yard field goal attempt by Mark Olenek with 2:44 left in the game.

The field-goal snap was high, which forced the holder, Brockner, to stand to catch the ball before he placed it down. The delay threw off Olenek's timing. He hit the ball fat, and it drifted short of the crossbar to the right.

"It's one of many things that add up," Rolando said of the high snap and missed kick. "We didn't play perfect. We had a lot of little execution errors. The effort was there."

Mendota's offense ate up the final 2:44 with 3 first downs. Overall, the Trojans rushed 53 times in the triple option for 226 yards.

"We stayed right with them," St. Edward two-way lineman Derek Porto said. "It could have gone either way."

St. Edward took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Wave advanced 69 yards in 6 plays on its second possession, a drive keyed by Lehman's 58-yard pass to DeVontae Elam.

Mendota didn't answer until 21 seconds remained in the first half. Watson finished a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a 1 yard run, but the point after try went wide, leaving the Green Wave with a 7-6 lead.

Rather than run out the clock with 18 seconds left, Lehman threw a 12-yard pass to Sam Pozezinski. The St. Edward coaches noticed the Mendota safety doubling Pozezinski over the top, so they called a deep fade for Jaimes with 11 seconds left in the half.

Lehman's pass was underthrown, so Jaimes adjusted, made the catch and scored on a 57-yard reception as time ran out. Olenek's extra point gave the Green Wave a 14-6 halftime lead. It was the first time Jaimes had been on the field in the game.

"I felt like we were doing really good right there and we were going to step up and beat them," Jaimes said.