Crystal Lake South follows through at Carmel
If the game plan was to run over Carmel Catholic with its power style of football, Crystal Lake South's Brad Walovitch made sure to carry it out.
He didn't mean to be that physical, though.
"I think I took (out) a coach, another coach, a player," said Walovitch, sounding almost apologetic.
Walovitch's sprint to the Carmel sideline gained a critical 2 yards on a gutsy fake punt on fourth-and-1 from the Crystal Lake South 22 with just less than three minutes left in Friday night's Class 7A state playoff thriller in Mundelein.
As the do-everything senior was tackled, he accidentally wiped out some people on the sideline. More importantly for Crystal Lake South, Walovitch eliminated Carmel.
The first-down pickup all but sealed the Gators' 14-9 win, earning them a state-quarterfinal berth for the second straight year.
No. 3 Crystal Lake South (10-1) next plays the winner of today's 1 p.m. game between No. 7 Wheaton North (8-2) and No. 2 Boylan (10-0) in Rockford.
"I was really trying to push the edge and see if I could get some blocks," said Walovitch, the Gators' punter, who also excels on defense and offense. "I just guessed and thought I could do it, and I just barely got it. We had some good blocking on the perimeter. Our three guys all stuck their guys and I just tried to weave in and out of them."
The play might have summed up the night for No. 11 Carmel (7-4).
"They outhit us all night long," said coach Andy Bitto, whose Corsairs hadn't scored fewer than 26 points in a game all season. "I told the kids going into the game that whoever outhits the other team is going to win. I was right. I thought we might be on the other side of it."
Carmel, which came in averaging nearly 39 points, was limited to 172 yards of offense.
"Our guys play great defense," Crystal Lake South coach Chuck Ahsmann said. "They hustle to the ball, and they take a lot of pride in that."
The Gators shut down the home team's potent triple option, despite usual linebacker Reese Dziedzic being utilized as their feature running back again.
Crystal Lake South rode Dziedzic early, using the 6-foot, 210-pound senior to manufacture a 13-play, 69-yard drive on its opening series after Carmel started the game with a three-and-out. Dziedzic's 2-yard run his 11th carry of the drive put the Gators up with 2:45 left in the first quarter.
"It set the tone," Ahsmann said. "And maybe they took us a little lightly. I think Addison Trail (Carmel's first-round opponent) is pretty tough. And (Carmel) has pounded us pretty good the past couple of times we've played them in the playoffs."
For the second straight week, Dziedzic took the carries that veteran Karl Mikulec (illness) usually gets. Dziedzic carried the ball 30 times for 129 yards, after a 20-carry, 156-yard effort against Streamwood the previous week.
"It's easy to run behind our line," Dziedzic said of Ed Atkinson, Boston Mathews, Jake Byron and sophomores Pat Walsh and Mike Franke. "Every kid is working hard. So it's a team effort."
A 35-yard field goal by Steven O'Block just before halftime finally got Carmel on the board. But any momentum the Corsairs might have gained was lost in the opening minute of the second half when, on second-and-9 from the Crystal Lake South 21, Gators quarterback Austin Fowler hit tight end Dom Winiecki in stride on a seam route. Winiecki, who had single coverage, caught the ball around the 40 and sprinted the rest of the way for his first varsity touchdown.
Carmel finally started moving the ball after taking possession at its own 10 with 1:49 left in the third quarter. Mike Panico's 1-yard run pulled the Corsairs within 14-9, but because the drive required 21 plays, only 5:16 was left in the game when Panico scored his 12th touchdown of the season.
Before the TD, Crystal Lake South twice had stopped Carmel on runs up the middle with the ball resting inches from the goal line. Nick Amren denied Carmel fullback Jordan Kos (20 carries, 73 yards) with a brilliant ankle tackle.
"We had to toss sweep to get (the touchdown)," Bitto said. "That killed a minute and a half. Which was big for their defense."
Gators safety Brendan Chrystal then stopped Panico on the attempted conversion run that would have pulled Carmel within a field goal.
"It was great preparation during the week," Chrystal said. "The coaches did a great job showing us what to do. I just read (the PAT run) and made the play."
On Crystal Lake South's ensuing series, Ahsmann called timeout with 2:55 left while Walovitch was in position to punt.
"I'm not a gambler much, really," Ahsmann said. "I told (Walovitch), 'If you can get (the first down), go get it. If you can't, punt it and we'll play defense.' "
Walovitch sprinted to his right, faked the punt and then took off.
Carmel finally got the ball back at its own 28 with just 32 seconds left and couldn't advance the football.
"We fought," said Kos, Carmel's all-time leading rusher. "I'm really proud of the team. I love all these guys."