Campbell's 4 TDs not enough for Prairie Ridge
If it had to end, it couldn't have been more fitting for Sam Campbell.
The Prairie Ridge senior caught a 26-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone from quarterback Bryan Bradshaw as time expired.
The touchdown reception came about a quarter too late, however, as Lemont used a 41-13 halftime lead and rolled it into a 48-34 Class 6A quarterfinal victory in Lemont Saturday night.
Prairie Ridge (11-1) made a quick change from playing for pride to playing to win in the second half.
After Lemont (10-2) scored 41 first-half points, the Wolves looked all but gone as Will Mack took the kickoff to open the second half.
But as quickly as Mack handed off to Campbell on a reverse, Campbell dashed 94 yards down the field to score and give Prairie Ridge a real shot of pulling off comeback.
"At halftime we were talking playing with pride and finishing strong," said Campbell, who finished with 137 yards on 17 carries and 4 touchdowns. "We had the kick return and the defense came up big and it wasn't so much playing for pride as much as it was we could comeback in this ballgame."
The comeback bid fell short when Lemont quarterback Brett Nagel plowed in from a yard out to put Lemont up 48-28 with 1:06 left in the game. Nagel's touchdown was the third rushing of the evening for Nagel, who also threw for 2 more.
Prairie Ridge gave up 342 yards in the first half, including 208 yards on the ground in the first period. The Wolves held Lemont on its first two drives of the third period, as the Indians gained 25 total yards and had 15 in penalties. Senior runningback Bobby Earnest finished the first half with 133 yards and a touchdown, but was held to just 26 in the second half.
The problem was the Wolves failed to score on a 14-play drive after their first stop which ate up 5 minutes, 51 seconds in the third period. Todd Buddy did punch in a 43-yard touchdown after the Wolves' second defensive stop to cut Lemont's lead to 41-28, but there was just 1:44 remaining in the third quarter.
Lemont now get a rematch with conference opponent at Oak Forest (11-1) at 5 p.m. next Saturday in the semifinals.
"It was frustrating," said Mack of the first half. "We were not stuffing it. We were not getting our contact points."
Added PR coach Chris Schremp: "So much -- especially on defense -- is based on momentum."
Nagel finished the first half with 8 rushes for 100 yards and hooked up with Peter Corsi on a 5-yard pass in the first quarter.
Campbell scored his first rushing touchdown on a 17-yard run with 30 seconds left in the first quarter to cut Lemont's lead to 21-7. his second touchdown run of 27 yards made it 28-13 with 7:47 remaining in the first half.