Riverside-Brookfield 29, Fenton 26

If Fenton's second-half performance had matched its first, the Bison would have walked off their home field having beaten Riverside-Brookfield for the second time this season.

Sadly, for the Fenton faithful, it didn't work out that way.

The Bison led 26-14 at the break, but Riverside-Brookfield's defense turned aggressive and spun a second-half shutout. The Bulldogs pulled out a 29-26 win in the final seconds to clinch the Metro Suburban Conference.

"In the first half we got them in defenses we had practiced against all week long," Fenton coach Mark Farrell said. "We made some plays, controlled the tempo, and moved the ball."

Fenton quarterback Ricky Prignano was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 11 of 12 passes. But it was Prignano's ability to run with the football that first put the Bison (4-5, 3-3) on the board.

After Riverside-Brookfield (5-4, 5-1) scored on a 20-yard pass from Billy VandeMerkt to Will Lusthoff, Prignano burst through a small gap in the Bulldogs' defense and sprinted 51 yards for a touchdown to tie the game, 7-7.

The Bison took the lead early in the second quarter when Tyler Sabala capped a long drive with a 3-yard run to the end zone.

Prignano extended that lead to 19-7 with 3:09 to go in the half by rolling left, beating a full-out blitz, and hitting Derek Potuszynski for a 21-yard touchdown.

After VandeMerkt responded by leading the Bulldogs to another score with just 30.4 seconds left, it appeared the Bison would be settling for a 19-14 halftime lead.

Edgar Chaidez had other plans, and returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, bringing the senior night crowd to its feet.

"Edgar ran hard up into that wedge and was at full stride when it popped," Farrell said.

But after Fenton had controlled the ball in the opening half, posting a 2-to-1 time-of-possession advantage, Riverside Brookfield's defense turned up the heat.

"They changed-up defenses and brought more pressure," Farrell said. "We had a couple of opportunities to make plays and didn't."

VandeMerkt led the Bulldogs on a 69-yard drive and found a wide open Lusthoff in the end zone for the game-winning score with 3:42 left.

"Some of our linemen were getting tired," VandeMerkt said. "But I knew we were going to punch it in."