Janus, LZ put the hurt on Boylan
After ripping off a 21-yard run on his very first carry Saturday afternoon in Rockford, Lake Zurich star running back Jon Janus popped up off the ground in excitement and pumped his fist emphatically.
His right fist.
So much for that banged up right shoulder.
Janus acted as if it weren't an issue then -- or for the rest of the game. Even though it was.
Playing through the pain, he racked up 107 yards on 15 carries to lead the fourth-seeded Bears to a 28-17 Class 7A quarterfinal victory over top-seeded and previously undefeated Rockford Boylan.
Lake Zurich will now face Carmel in the Class 7A semifinals next weekend in an attempt to reach the state championship game for the second straight year.
"There were four or five of our guys out there today who gave really gutsy performances and (Janus) was one of them," Stortz said. "I mean, what can you say? He was really tough."
Just a week ago, Janus was praying that his career wasn't over.
He strained his shoulder in the first quarter of Lake Zurich's second round win over Rolling Meadows and spent the rest of the game on the sideline before heading to the hospital.
"It hurts pretty bad, I'm not going to lie," said Janus, who came up big as Lake Zurich tried to salt away the game on its last series. He carried the ball 7 times for 53 yards and got 4 first downs to keep the sticks and the clock moving.
"The last couple plays, I was ready to (come) out," Janus said. "But I realized we needed to keep going. And I wanted to make sure people know what kind of team we are: that we'll do anything for each other."
That message seemed to register with the faithful. Hundreds of appreciative Lake Zurich fans swarmed Janus and his teammates on the field moments after the game ended.
"Seeing the crowd run out like this, knowing that they drove an hour and a half out here to support us, is just awesome," Janus said. "This is really exciting for us."
The Bears gave their fans plenty to get excited about when they regained the lead for good with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
Boylan held a 17-14 advantage at halftime after a wild second quarter, but quarterback Bobby DeLeo put Lake Zurich up 21-17 with his third 1-yard touchdown run of the game.
Adam Simpson then tacked on the exclamation point with just 9 seconds left when he ran in a touchdown from 12 yards out. It capped off a 17-play drive of nothing but rushing plays that chewed up the final six minutes of the game.
"They played great defense when they had to and they ran it down our throats when they had to," Rockford Boylan coach Dan Appino said. "We knew we would have to play our 'A' game to have a chance against them, and we didn't the whole time."
But the Titans did in the second quarter. For the most part.
They fell behind 7-0 after DeLeo scored his first touchdown about a minute into the period. But two minutes later, they were on the board themselves, thanks to a 4-yard run by quarterback Jacob Simonovich.
A DeLeo interception on the next series set up a state playoff record 53-yard field goal by Derek Dimke that gave Boylan its first lead at 10-7.
The half was on its way to ending with that score until Boylan suffered its own turnover with 1:50 left. Will Sahlstrom fumbled the ball at his own 35-yard line and Lake Zurich lineman Tony Pecho picked up the ball and rumbled all the way to the 5-yard line.
Three plays later, Lake Zurich scored on another Bobby DeLeo run to take a 14-10 lead with 24 seconds left.
But Boylan wasn't done yet. A big kickoff return by Mike Rush put the Titans in Lake Zurich territory and two plays later, with just 2 seconds on the clock, quarterback Zach Lane connected with Shane Zackery for a 15-yard touchdown pass.
The ball was tipped off a couple of Lake Zurich defenders and Zackery came down with it in the end zone to give Boylan its 17-14 lead at the break.
"We gave up a few big plays, but it was pretty much a great day," said Pecho, whose fumble recovery was his first of the season. "We came back and shut them down in the second half."