Grant's perfect year comes to end

Grant wasn't finished, even after its season was finished.

So as the Bulldogs huddled before leaving their home field, their head coach, who instilled a never-say-die attitude in them and had them believing they would win any game, no matter how close, gave his football players one last assignment.

He had them wave and thank their fans.

"It was a great year," Kurt Rous said after his Grant Bulldogs lost to Lemont 21-7 in Fox Lake, in the teams' Class 6A second-round state playoff game Saturday night.

"Our fans were fantastic for us."

And the Bulldogs for them.

While Grant (10-1) saw its perfect season end after posting a school-record win total, Lemont (9-2) earned its second state quarterfinal berth in three years and next will host undefeated Prairie Ridge.

In a game that saw both offenses squander multiple red-zone scoring opportunities, a special-teams play was the biggest momentum-swinger.

Grant appeared ready to snap a 7-7 tie, moving the ball from its own 20 to the Lemont 4 late in the third quarter. But a negative-yard rush and pair of penalties pushed the ball back 13 yards. The Bulldogs then called on reliable Kevin Katchmar to kick a 34-yard field goal.

But Lemont's Ryan Ferry blocked the try. The ball bounced to Bobby Earnest, "the right kid," a smiling Indians coach Eric Michaelsen said, and Earnest raced 74 yards for a touchdown with 27.6 seconds left in the quarter.

Players from both teams seemed to momentarily freeze after the block, before Earnest scooped up the ball and took off.

"I just kind of stopped, but then I saw the ball rolling so I went to pick it up," Earnest said. "I actually almost fell right when I got it. Everybody was blocked coming down the field."

"Our kids didn't know what to do," Rous said. "One, I don't think they knew where the ball was. Their kid picked it up, he had a head start and we couldn't catch him."

Earnest happens to be Lemont's leading rusher. His 94 rushing yards against Grant gave him more than 1,400 yards on the season.

"He's our fastest kid," Michaelsen said. "He's a fast kid, he's a tough kid, and he has a nose for the ball."

Grant fumbled the ball away on its next possession, and Lemont capitalized. Quarterback Brett Nagel capped a 40-yard drive with a 13-yard TD pass to Peter Corsi, who had caught a 37-yard touchdown strike from Nagel in the second quarter.

Trailing by two touchdowns with less than nine minutes left, Grant came back. But the Bulldogs fumbled the ball away at the Lemont 8. Their next series ended with an interception at midfield.

"Our kids didn't give up, said Rous, whose team was 5-0 in games decided by single-digit points.

"Our kids have nothing to be ashamed of. There was no give-up at the end. I thought we were going to punch one in at the end and then get the on-side (kick) and drive down and tie it up. That's how dumb I am. I had faith in our kids they were going to do that."

"There's no way I was going to go out my senior year like that (giving up)," said Grant quarterback Pavel Zurkowski, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 190 yards but was held to minus-7 rushing yards by Lemont's aggressive defense.

"I just knew we had to go out there and try to do something."

Grant wide receiver Tommy Bychowski had 9 receptions for 177 yards, and caught a 71-yard pass from Zurkowski in the first quarter for Grant's lone score. Defensive end Bobby Madlener had 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

"They were real tough -- hard-hitting kids," Earnest said. "We knew it'd be a battle coming in here, but we run our offense the way we do. We pound the ball. That's all there is to it."