Nothing could be finer for Pettigrew than Bolingbrook’s playoff win over Lyons Twp.
Bolingbrook head coach Titcus Pettigrew had an interesting week.
It began with an official visit to North Carolina, for basketball, with his son Brady, a heavily recruited high school junior. Then he watched his older son, JT, (on television) play 31 minutes for Valparaiso in its upset win at Purdue.
He capped things off with a hard-fought playoff victory. Bolingbrook trailed early in the fourth quarter but managed to beat Lyons Twp. 22-14 in the Class 8A second round on Saturday. The Raiders (10-1), riding a 10-game win streak, move on to play at Oswego next week in the quarterfinals.
“We've had like a five-game stretch where we put up 30-plus points and held teams to 10 or less,” Pettigrew said. “At some point we were going to face a tough football team. Welcome to the playoffs. As you keep advancing, this is what you're going to get.”
Lyons kept Bolingbrook running back TJ Lewis relatively in check for much of the night, but he finally broke off a spectacular 73-yard dash in the fourth quarter, where he crossed the width of the field twice. That run set up the final score of the game, a 27-yard field goal by Matthew Beck with 3:07 remaining.
Lewis, an Oklahoma State commit, finished with 191 yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Tyson Ward scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 31-yard sprint up the middle to make it 19-14 with 8:03 remaining, a drive that was set up by an interception from Gabriel Jenkins.
“It felt so good, because I haven’t had one in so long,” Ward said. “It felt so great to be able to come out here and get the last touchdown of the game for my team.”
Lyons (8-4) came out in the third quarter, trailing 13-7, and had trouble connecting on shotgun snaps. The Lions' first drive started on their own 22 and quickly backed up to the five due to snap mishaps. The next possession started at the six-yard line and went back to the one because a mishandled snap.
So Lyons went under center a few times and ended up moving 99 yards to score the go-ahead touchdown. Quarterback Brendan McCabe had success hitting his big tight ends, Owen Matela and Aidan Webster; and eventually EJ Kuhlman (23 carries, 126 yards) scored on a 10-yard run to make it 14-13 late in the third quarter.
Matela, a Miami (Ohio) commit, finished with five catches for 69 yards.
“Unfortunately, we've had issues with our snaps throughout the season,” Lyons coach Jon Beutjer said. “We've tried different things to rectify that, but in playoff games, when you're playing a really good team, every snap matters.”
The visit to North Carolina was special for the elder Pettigrew, because he grew up in Winston-Salem. He cheered for the Tar Heels, as well as hometown Wake Forest, since that school offered the chance to watch college Tim Duncan up close.
“It was an epic moment for me,” Pettigrew said. “I idolized (former UNC coach) Roy Williams and they brought him out on the floor with us. He knew who I was, knew my kids, so it was exciting.
“I would go to Wake Forest camps (growing up), and I watched Muggsy Bogues, Rodney Rogers. I watched Carolina basketball since I was a baby. I told them, though, I won't create a bias (for his son), but the history for Carolina basketball, it speaks for itself.”
Brady Pettigrew narrowed down his finalists to 10 last week and plans to take maybe five more visits before making a decision.