At Friday Night Drive, we have a combined 349 years of experience covering high school football.
That is [checks notes] a lot of games. To celebrate the launch of Friday Night Drive, I asked our staff to reach back and share a few of the memorable moments from the best game they've ever covered.
And boy did they deliver. Here are the best games we've seen.
Kevin Hieronymus: 1989 Class 3A quarterfinals (Princeton vs. Alleman)
Brian Weidman: 1990 Class 4A state title game (Geneseo vs. Joliet Catholic)
Charlie Ellerbrock: 1995 Class 3A state title game (Spring Valley Hall vs. DuQuoin)
Ty Reynolds: Dixon vs. Geneseo (2001)
J.T. Pedelty: Flanagan vs. Tuscola (2004 Class 1A playoffs, second round)
Joe Stevenson: Cary-Grove vs. Morgan Park (2004 Class 4A semifinals)
Steve Soucie and Rob Oesterle: Morris vs. Joliet Catholic (2005 Class 6A quarterfinals)
Josh Welge: Wheaton Warrenville South 42, Naperville North 41 (3OT) (2007, Week 9)
John Sahly: DeKalb vs. Rock Island (2010 Class 6A playoffs, first round)
Eddie Carifio: DeKalb vs. Sycamore (2015, Week 4)
Kyle Nabors: Libertyville 22, Bradley-Bourbonnais 17 (2015 Class 7A semifinals)
Sean Hammond: Johnsburg vs. Phillips (2016 Class 4A semifinals)
Brian Hoxsey: Streator vs. Lisle (Week 9, 2017)
Eric Ingles: Forreston vs. Milledgeville (2018 Class 1A playoffs, first round)
Jake Bartelson: St. Charles North vs. Mt. Carmel (2018 Class 7A semifinals)
Enjoy.
Kevin Hieronymus: 'Oh my God, it's Princeton' (1989 Class 3A quarterfinals)
When I was asked to write about the best football game I’ve ever covered in my career, I knew that was going to be tough to pick just one. After 34 years, I’ve certainly seen a lot of good games, including six state championships.
Of all the games I’ve covered and seen, I guess, I go back to one that stands out the most.
It was the quarterfinals of the 1989 Class 3A playoffs when Princeton played host to Rock Island Alleman at Bryant Field. The Tigers still had a bad taste on their mouths having lost to the Pioneers by a point in the first round of the playoffs the year before.
Alleman was still heavily regarded around the state, but no longer feared when they came to Tiger Town. Signs were lined up along the interstate and down Main Street to let the Pioneers know the Tigers were ready to tangle.
Princeton senior Sean Schickel offered my favorite quote of all-time when he stated that “It used to be, ‘Oh my God, it’s Alleman.’ But now, ‘Oh my God, it’s Princeton.’”
Princeton fans came out in droves, lining Bryant Field sidelines and end zones, three or four rows deep. It remains the biggest, and loudest crowd, that I’ve ever seen there in all years.
The Tigers didn’t disappoint the PHS faithful, rocking Alleman 27-14. Living up to coach Steve Kiser’s theme song, Tiger Style was indeed Running Wild that day.
It was the win that helped launched the Tigers to the 3A state championship game after defeating Marmion the next week.
And longtime Princeton fans, and old sports editors, still talk about that game to this day.
Brian Weidman: Joliet Catholic stops Geneseo at the goalline (1990 Class 4A state title game)
The best game I ever covered was the 1990 Class 4A state championship football game between Geneseo and Joliet Catholic. It was played at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.
At the time, I was a one-man sports department for the Geneseo Republic newspaper, and watched each game the Maple Leafs played that season. Their only regular-season loss was to an Iowa powerhouse, Cedar Falls, at the Northern Iowa University UNI-Dome.
In Joliet Catholic, however, Geneseo was dealing with a different animal. The Hilltoppers were massive across their offensive and defensive lines, had a future NFL running back, Mike Alstott, in their backfield, and Maple Leafs head coach Vic Boblett remarked the team resembled the Chicago Bears, with all of their size.
Making matters worse for Geneseo was that it lost its top offensive lineman, Jim Van Acker, to a serious knee injury in a semifinal round win against Carbondale. Van Acker was a 270-pounder who was best equipped for battle in the trenches with the Joliet Catholic behemoths.
On paper, it was a David vs. Goliath matchup, but as the game unfolded, it was a back-and-forth affair. Geneseo’s famed Wing-T offense gave Joliet Catholic fits, but when the Hilltoppers didn’t shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties, they too were a formidable force.
It all came down to a two-point conversion in the final minute, after Geneseo had scored to get to within 21-20. Without hesitation, Boblett decided to go for the 2-point conversion and the lead.
Boblett dialed up a play for his best running back, Ryan Verbeck, on a sweep to the right. He appeared to have a lane in which he could dart into the end zone, but just as he was about to cut, Joliet Catholic defensive lineman John Horn fended off a blocker, reached out with one arm and dragged Verbeck to the turf.
The tackle by Horn, who went on to play at Illinois, would now be considered of the horse-collar variety and surely would have drawn a flag by officials. Nearly three decades ago, however, it was a clean, game-saving stop.
I still have the game on a dusty VHS tape that I still like to view once every great while.
Charlie Ellerbrock: A comeback for the ages (1995 Class 3A state title game)
There have been so many terrific games I’ve covered over the years, everything from crazy meetings between winless teams with that game the only chance left for a victory to late-season battles with a conference title or a playoff berth at stake.
The one that stands out most in my mind would be the 1995 Class 3A championship game between Spring Valley Hall and undefeated downstate power DuQuoin. With a championship on the line, both teams were incredible and the finish was unbelievable, as the Red Devils scoring 16 points in the final 1 minute, 27 seconds to shock the Hancock Stadium crowd and capture the school’s first state championship in any team sport.
After a 16-16 tie at halftime and a 22-22 score in the fourth period, DuQuoin capitalized on two blocked punts to grab a seemingly insurmountable 32-22 lead inside the game’s final minutes.
But Hall of Fame coach Gary Vicini’s Red Devils didn’t quit, getting a 1-yard score from fullback Nick Guerrini with 1:27 left to keep them alive, and Eric Bryant’s recovery of the ensuing onside kick at the Hall 43-yard line giving the momentum swing a big push.
Guerrini completed the historic comeback by bursting through for a 3-yard touchdown – his third score of the game – with just three seconds on the clock.
DuQuoin coach Al Martin, who retired after 27 years at the school with a 254-66 record, two state titles and four second places, called it, “the greatest game I’ve ever seen.”
A young Hall fan was on the sidelines with me throughout and he was in tears when it looked like the game was slipping away midway through the final period. I told him to stay positive and be supportive of his team because that’s when they needed it most of all, and he was consoling the Devils as those fateful two minutes approached.
After the clock ran out, his tears of sadness were replaced with those of joy as several Devils carried him and several other fans into the pandemonium at the center of the field. It was a scene and a game I will never forget.
Ty Reynolds: "This is awesome!" (Dixon vs. Geneseo, Week 6 2001)
Back in the fall of 2001, I was a cub reporter in just my second year of covering Dixon football. But I had been spoiled as the Dukes’ beat writer; my first season, in 2000, they had finished 8-2 and won a playoff game for the first time in program history.
Their only losses in 2000 were both to Geneseo – once in the regular season and again in the second round of the playoffs – and Dixon still had only beaten the powerhouse Maple Leafs once since 1981.
In Week 6 of 2001, the Dukes went on the road to face Geneseo, which had won 29 consecutive NCIC Northeast games dating back to 1995. With senior QB Dustin Bock – the eventual Sauk Valley Media Football Player of the Year that season – Dixon had developed a more pro-style offense, with a strong balance between the run and the pass. In a mainly Wing-T conference, this put the Dukes at an advantage.
It was no different in this game. Behind a stout defense and two Bock TDs – a 42-yard pass to Nate Davidson and a 4-yard QB sneak set up by Doug Stichter’s 79-yard kickoff return – the Dukes led 16-13 at halftime.
The defense then shut down the Green Machine after halftime, allowing just 47 total yards and pinning Geneseo deep in its own territory the entire half.
With 3:26 to play, Davidson returned a Leafs punt 51 yards for an insurance score and a 23-13 lead. Then, on the ensuing Geneseo possession, Ryan Seible intercepted a Leafs pass on 4th-and-10 and returned it to the Geneseo 17-yard line, and Bock threw his second TD pass of the game – this one from 10 yards out to Nigel LeBlanc on fourth down with a minute and a half to play – to give Dixon a 30-13 victory.
“This is awesome!” Dixon head coach Bill Lech shouted to me as I approached him, before I had even asked a question for the postgame interview.
Dixon would go on to tie Ottawa for the NCIC Northeast title with a 4-1 record, and finish the regular season 7-2 to earn a playoff berth for the second straight season.
J.T. Pedelty: Flanagan upsets Tuscola (2004 Class 1A playoffs)
When it comes to pure emotion (and pure exhaustion), no game I've covered quite matches the 2004 Class 1A second-round playoff marathon between the upstart Flanagan Falcons and perennial powerhouse Tuscola Warriors on a sunny, early-November Saturday in Tuscola, a 44-38 Tuscola victory in double-overtime.
Flanagan — led by slippery running back Jac Jones, bruising fullback Eric Smith and young, fiery head coach Ted O'Boyle — came in the undisputed underdog, going 7-2 in the regular season but barely surviving an opening-round matchup with future Heart of Illinois Conference foe LeRoy.
Tuscola, meanwhile, entered the second round 9-1, its lone loss to undefeated Arthur-Lovington, featuring a near-unstoppable, versatile offense led by strong-armed passing quarterback Jordan Kling and speedy running quarterback Curtis Stewart.
Early on you wouldn't have known it, though, as the underdog Falcons got a 69-yard touchdown sprint from Jones just over three minutes in and built a 16-0 lead before Tuscola knew what hit it. The Warriors would respond, though.
"I knew we could score," said Tuscola coach Stan Wienke. "I was never too worried about that. I just worried about, were we gonna stop them?"
The Warriors did and took their first lead on an 81-yard fumble return for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. Flanagan retook it on an 83-yard scoring strike less than a half minute later, but Tuscola drove down and kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime.
After trading touchdowns and two-point conversions in the first OT — O'Boyle winning the overtime coin toss and stunning everyone by electing to take the ball first! — Tuscola won it in the second extra period by picking off a Flanagan pass and then immediately scoring on a 10-yard Stewart designed scramble in front of a deliriously happy home crowd and a dejected flock of Falcons.
Flanagan would miss the 2005 postseason, but the year after form a co-op with rival Streator Woodland which would rattle off nine straight playoff appearances before moving to eight-man football beginning this coming school year.
The 2004 season was the 11th straight playoff appearance for Tuscola during a stretch of 18 consecutive postseason trips. Though the Warriors lost again to Arthur-Lovington the next week, better times were ahead in Tuscola as its team just two years later in 2006 would win the Class 1A state championship and start a run of five 1A title-game appearances in six years.
Joe Stevenson: The night the FVC arrived (2004 Class 7A semifinals)
For anyone attending at Chicago’s Gately Stadium that October night in 2004, the sight of Cary-Grove quarterback Brian Mitz running … and running … and running is indelibly etched in their memory.
The Class 7A semifinal between C-G and Morgan Park was a tremendous matchup.
Morgan Park had five NCAA DivisionI players and was trying to become the first Chicago Public League football state champion. C-G was trying to reach a state championship game for the first time.
The Trojans trailed by a point with about three minutes to go when Mitz raced 65 yards for the winning touchdown in a 21-14 game. The play was set up by another 60-yard-plus play earlier in the game when Mitz flipped a short pass to running back Andrew Bures, who took it the distance.
This time, though, Mitz faked the pass to Bures, tucked it in and took off.
I picked this game because of the terrific atmosphere, the great fans on both sides and the historical impact it had for years to come. C-G lost the championship game to Libertyville but Trojans’ players in the following years always talked about how the 2004 team set the standard.
It wasn’t just for C-G teams, but for the whole Fox Valley Conference, which has become one of the best in the state. C-G has since won Class 6A state championships in 2009 and 2018, and finished twice as runner-up. Prairie Ridge is 3 for 3 in championship games (2011, 2016, 2017).
That also showed how effective triple-option football could be. C-G coach Bruce Kay had switched to the option that year. Prairie Ridge coach Chris Schremp did so the following season. Now, in an era of read-option, pass-oriented offenses, those teams thrive with the old-school approach that is less prominent and, thus, difficult to defend.
The starting point for a lot of that success was C-G’s 2004 team with Mitz, Bures and bruising fullback Will Yocius running the ball.
C-G almost made it to the Class 5A state championship in 1997, but lost in heartbreaking fashion on a missed extra point in overtime, 14-13, to Rock Island. Had the Trojans won, it would have been an all-FVC title game. Woodstock beat the Rocks, 35-28, for the championship.
Some people noticed the score, 14-13, as the Trojans had the ball late against Morgan Park. It looked like another missed extra point, this one earlier in the game, might keep them from going to state. But Mitz and the offense came up with one of the gems in C-G history.
Football in the FVC has not been the same since.
Steve Soucie: Morris climbs the impossible mountain (2005 Class 6A quarterfinals)
It was one of those rare circumstances where the reality actually lived up to the hype.
I arrived over three hours in advance of a 2005 Class 6A quarterfinal between Morris and Joliet Catholic hoping to settle in before the expected large crowd showed up for a contest that had been heavily anticipated since the postseason brackets had been revealed.
As it turned out, I miscalculated as fans were already ringing the field and looked as if they'd been there for most of the day just biding their time.
Joliet Catholic had won state championships in five of the previous seasons and was considered to be a mountain that Morris, while a very strong team, would not be able to climb.
In reality, it was Joliet Catholic that had the problem they couldn't solve in the presence of running back/defensive back John Dergo.
Dergo, who later went on to shine in wrestling at the University of Illinois, looked something like a lilliputian in a land of giants when he hit the field against a ominous looking defensive frontline from Joliet Catholic.
But it was Dergo who established very quickly that he was going to be the giant that needed to be slayed, scoring on a 82-yard touchdown on Morris' first play from scrimmage.
As great teams do, Joliet Catholic responded with a touchdown to tie the score and then another to take the lead on a Joe Benson touchdown reception. But just before halftime, Dergo, who had been piling up large chunks of yards in the interim, broke free for an incredible 67-yard score where it felt like he had taken on every member of the JCA defense to tie the game at 14 at halftime.
JCA didn't figure out a miracle cure to stopping Dergo at the break. Dergo piloted his team's offense down field to set up a short touchdown pass to allow Morris to reclaim the lead and a few minutes later, Dergo ripped off a 68-yard touchdown run to put Morris up two scores.
Joliet Catholic answered with a halfback pass from Benson to close within 28-21 and was driving again when Dergo changed hats and contributed on the defensive side with an interception to thwart the drive with under five minutes to play.
The Hilltoppers had one more charge in them and once again marched down the field and appeared to be on their way to an equalizing score, but Dergo and JCA wide receiver Dan Hvratin came down with a pass reception in the end zone which Dergo was able to wrestle away for another interception that sealed the victory.
Dergo finished with 368 yards rushing on the game and two weeks later Morris captured the Class 6A State Title with a 14-9 victory over Normal Community.
Rob Oesterle: Another perspective on Morris vs. JCA (2005 Class 6A quarterfinals)
It was the game everyone wanted to see.
In years past, Morris had played Joliet Catholic Academy, and usually played them close. But, all those games had been in one Memorial Stadium or another, either in Joliet or Champaign.
In 2005, though, the way the playoffs were set up, the game was going to finally be in Morris. The Redskins had a brand new coach. George Dergo had taken over for the legendary Dan Darlington, who did pretty much everything in his long and illustrious career at Morris - except beat Joliet Catholic. Everyone in Morris had always wanted to get the Hilltoppers on the Morris field, and it happened.
John Dergo was the headliner for Morris, and he more than lived up to the hype. But, Morris also had an offensive line that featured tight ends like 6-foot-7, 280-pound Jamie Cumbie, who went on to play defensive end at Clemson and made the practice squad for the Oakland Raiders - and 6-5, 250 Dane Zumbahlen, who went on to play at Illinois State. There was also 6-6, 280-pound tackle Alex Perry, who went on to be a starter at Indiana University. That's a lot of manpower to get through before you even got a chance to bring down Dergo, who was the defending state 171-pound wrestling champion and had put on 10 more pounds for the football season.
Dergo was averaging well over 200 yards and close to five touchdowns a game en route to setting the all-time single-season scoring record for the state at the time, since he also kicked extra points after all his touchdowns. Oh, yeah, he played safety on defense, too. And punted.
JCA was riding the crest of a 30-game win streak and had future major-league outfielder Joe Benson in the backfield, among other talented backs, and their line was nearly the size of Morris'. It was going to be a war.
The crowd was estimated at nearly 8,000, which, if you have ever been to Morris' stadium, you would know that would safely be described as an overflow crowd. I don't remember what the 50/50 drawing was that night, but I am pretty sure whomever won it was able to take a nice vacation on it.
JCA got the opening kickoff and the Morris defense forced them to punt, with the Redskins taking over on their own 19.
First play, Dergo over the left side. He sprung to the sideline, gave a stutter-step move at midfield and outran the JCA defender into the end zone. One play, 81 yards. Touchdown. Pandemonium is an understatement.
Dergo added a pair of 67-yard touchdown runs in the contest and finished with 354 rushing yards. The threat of his running opened up what little passing game Morris needed, and Donovan Monahan found Cumbie for a 10-yard score.
But, this was JCA, and they werent going away. They made it 28-21 and kept moving the ball. Dergo stopped one Hilltipper drive with an interception in the end zone, but they were driving again at the end of the game. In the final 30 seconds, they threw another pass into the end zone, and the reciever was open. Except Dergo came from seemingly nowhere to rip the ball out of his hands for another end zone pick. He ran it out to the 20 or so with his arms raised high. A kneel-down or two and the fans rushed the field.
The semifinal win over Crystal Lake South and the title game win over Normal Community seemed rather anticlimactic after that. To this day, you can ask anyone in Morris about the 2005 football team and they will say "Is that the one that beat JCA?" instead of "Is that the one that won the 6A title?"
Joshua Welge: 2007, Wheaton Warrenville South 42, Naperville North 41 (3OT)
It was an epic matchup in the DuPage Valley Conference, the rare game that surpassed expectations.
Both the Tigers and Huskies entered Week 9 at Red Grange Field 8-0, the DVC title at stake.
And it came down to a gutsy call.
Wheaton Warrenville South couldn't stop Naperville North quarterback Jordan Tassio, who ran for three touchdowns in overtime. The third, a 10-yard TD run in the third OT, gave the Huskies a 41-34 lead. So after Tigers' quarterback Mike Piatkowski connected with a sliding Mike Sloboda for a TD, Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch elected to go for the win.
Piatkowski took in the 2-yard conversion to set off a mob scene in front of 7,500 fans in Wheaton.
Piatkowski rolled out right, made a cut for the end zone and just leaned the ball across the plane of the goal as he fell to the ground.
"The line blocked perfectly. I just saw a lane and cut it up," Piatkowski said afterward.
"It was kind of getting tiring, going back and forth, so we wanted to win the game and go for 2."
Tassio's 20-yard TD run with 1:51 left in regulation had sent the game to OT. In the first OT period, Piatkowski pass to Francis Adarkwa amid a sea of Huskies defenders on fourth-and-goal, kept the game rolling on.
"It's the most exciting game I've ever played in my life," Tassio said.
It was a banner year in the DVC in its former state before conference realignment.
Wheaton Warrenville South reached the Class 7A state championship game, where it lost to Lake Zurich 7-3. Naperville North, meanwhile, got the last laugh, beating another DVC rival Glenbard North 46-19 for the Class 8A state championship.
John Sahly: The best upset that never happened (DeKalb-Rock Island 2010 Class 6A first round)
DeKalb hadn’t won a playoff game in 21 years. They hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1989. In 2010, the Barbs defied expectations, ignored history and couldn’t care less that Rock Island was 8-1 and a two seed in the Class 6A playoffs.
It was DeKalb's night. It was DeKalb's turn. Until it wasn’t.
With three minutes left in regulation, Rock Island staged an 11-point comeback, and pulled off a two-point conversion to tie the game that I’ve never seen before or since.
DeKalb’s defense had Rock Island running back Chris Glover stuffed at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion with 43 seconds left. Until they didn’t.
Glover, in a complete desperation move, heaved the ball up into the air slightly behind the line of scrimmage. It landed in quarterback Nathan Gray’s hands, and he had daylight to the left side of the field.
A two-point conversion on a busted play in the final minute to save your season.
I went home and tried to re-create the play on Madden. I couldn't.
To DeKalb’s credit, the Barbs quickly drove down and attempted a 47-yard field goal as time expired, which Rock Island blocked.
Then Rock Island blocked another kick in overtime, this time on an extra point. The Rocks’ Nikko Watson scored his fifth touchdown of the game in overtime, and the extra point was good, ending DeKalb’s upset bid, 42-41.
On that night I wrote that DeKalb was here to stay. It took another couple of seasons to get that first playoff win, but now the Barbs are annually making runs at conference titles and expect to go deep in the playoffs. Hardened by that game against the Rocks, the Barbs have long since arrived as a powerhouse.
Eddie Carifio: A freshman steals a rivalry game (2015 Week 4 DeKalb-Sycamore)
In a see-saw game in a unfamiliar venue between two rivals on a field littered with future NCAA Division I athletes, it was a freshman kicker who stole the show.
DeKalb's Connor Tierney hit a field goal with 4.2 seconds left to give the Barbs a 31-28 win at DeKalb High against rival Sycamore. The game, traditionally played at Huskie Stadium, fell victim to storms and was not played the night before. The game reverted to DeKalb the next day.
"I was trying to keep myself as calm as possible," said Tierney, who set school and state records and is headed to play at Indiana State in the fall. "I knew what I had to do to get a positive result for my team. So I did it."
Tierney's heroics made the headlines, but DeKalb receiver Cole Tucker also had a monster game. Now a receiver and punt returner for NIU, Tucker caught eight passes for 136 yards from Derek Kyler, another current D-I player (Dartmouth) in that game that also featured current Iowa linebacker Nick Niemann playing two ways for the Spartans. DeKalb's Tony Tate is currently a receiver at Western Illinois as well, and Brian Ross is followed Tucker from NIU to DeKalb – in all six current D-I football players.
Tucker not only had an 87-yard kickoff return for a score to tie the game in the fourth, he had a 67-yard kickoff later in the fourth that set up another tying score. There was a lot of scoring in the fourth – a game that was 14-14 after three quarters finished at 31-28.
Tierney had the last points, and it gave DeKalb the lead for the first time. It was the first field goal of Tierney's career.
It wouldn't be the last.
Kyle Nabors: Libertyville 22, Bradley-Bourbonnais 17 (2015 Class 7A semifinals)
I'm still not 100 percent sold that Libertyville should have played for the Class 7A state championship in 2015.
Did quarterback Riley Lees break the plane? Did he still have possession when he broke the plane? Could anyone even really tell where the goalline was after hours of heavy snow had left the entire field covered in several inches of fresh powder?
Anyone who tells you they're certain Lees' last-second lunge was a touchdown is a liar.
Regardless if you think Lees scored or not, the 2015 Class 7A state semifinal in which Libertyville beat Bradley-Bourbonnais, 22-17, will go down as one of the most dramatic in Illinois high school football history.
It's my easy choice for the best game I've ever covered.
Lees, now a wide receiver at Northwestern, came into the contest as one of the top QBs in Illinois and led his team to a 14-0 lead in the first half.
But Bradley-Bourbonnais had Camron Harrell, an incredibly quick two-way athlete who was committed to Iowa. Harrell took a screen pass 74 yards for a touchdown just before halftime, and eventually the Boilermakers took a late 17-14 lead.
Then things got weird.
First, Lees fumbled with Libertyville on the verge of taking the lead back. Moments later, Bradley-Bourbonnais fumbled in its own end zone and took a safety.
Then Lees went to work, driving the Wildcats down the field in the final minute. The third-and-goal play, however, was stuffed. And with no timeouts and unable to stop the clock, Lees rushed his team back to the line, took the snap and extended the football toward the goal line.
The side judge on the near side of the field signaled touchdown. The side judge closest to me signaled Lees was down short.
I have no idea if Lees scored, but I can tell you one thing for certain: I've never been more grateful for toe warmers than on Nov. 21, 2015.
Sean Hammond: Johnsburg's defense stops Phillips (2016 Class 4A state semifinals)
The best games aren’t always the prettiest. The Johnsburg vs. Phillips Class 4A state semifinal matchup in 2016 was defined by turnovers and kicking struggles.
Skyhawks fans will no doubt remember the night their team earned its first trip to state. For readers elsewhere who might not, it takes a little bit of context to understand what made that game special.
Phillips was the defending Class 4A state champion and none of its playoff games the year before had been particularly close. Phillips beat Johnsburg by three touchdowns in the second round in 2015.
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks were the undefeated upstart who had never been past the state quarterfinals. Only three years earlier, Johnsburg had snapped a 25-game losing streak.
The 2016 Skyhawks featured a ridiculously good defense and a staunch rushing attack. Johnsburg ran through its schedule to that point, but Phillips presented its toughest test. I remember looking onto the field during warmups and marveling at how physically imposing the Phillips linemen were.
Yet, everything went Johnsburg’s way. The Skyhawks defense created two first-quarter turnovers that gave the offense great field position and led to touchdowns. A long touchdown pass in the second quarter (and a missed extra point) gave Johnsburg a 20-14 lead at halftime.
The second half was a slugfest. Johnsburg did not score after halftime. Its defense kept coming up with stops. Phillips scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but didn’t have a kicker and failed on the two-point conversion.
The game went to overtime, where Johnsburg made a field goal on the first possession. In fitting fashion, the Skyhawks defense stopped Phillips on four straight plays to win the game, 23-20. Phillips had out-gained Johnsburg by more than 300 yards, yet the Skyahwks produced just enough offense to win.
It seemed nearly everyone in Johnsburg was there that night, and the students made a mad rush for the field after the final play. It was a special, historic moment for the Johnsburg football program and the Skyhawks community.
Brian Hoxsey: Streator makes the playoffs (Week 9, 2017)
Throughout the 2017 football season the mantra for the Streator Bulldogs was "Why not us?", but after a 28-0 loss to Manteno which left the Red and White with a 2-4 record, the chances of a playoff berth seemed bleak.
However, the Bulldogs posted back-to-back wins over Plano (29-7) and Westmont (14-0) to set up a "Win and reach the postseason" contest at Lisle in Week 9 — as Streator had more than enough playoff points to receive at-large berth if they could get the qualifying fifth win.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-7 after the opening quarter and 21-14 at halftime, but sophomore running back Tray Fisher's 60-yard run to paydirt on the first play of the second half tied things and quarterback John Benckendorf's 7-yard TD run with a minute to go in the third gave the visitors their first lead.
The Lions looked to have put the thought's of Streator reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2008 when Ben Laning went in from the 4-yard line and then added the two-point conversion run for a 29-28 lead with just 4 minutes, 38 seconds to go.
On the ensuing kickoff, Maurice Cunningham set up the Bulldogs at the Lisle 48 after a 35-yard return. Four carries from Fisher and another by Cunningham had the ball resting at the Lisle 16 with the clocking running down under two minutes. Fisher — who finished with 250 yards on 31 carries — took a handoff for a sweep right and looked to be stopped for negative yardage, but he reversed field to the left, fought off a pair of defenders before crossing the goal line. Benckendorf's two-point run made it 36-29 Streator with 1:25 to play and the Bulldogs stopped Lisle on a fourth-down play as time expired.
"We been pushing towards this moment the entire season and offseason. We asked ourselves the question "Why not us?" This is why," said Benckendorf, pointing to his teammates hugging one another and jumping around. "We wanted to do this for our town. This is the best feeling ever."
Eric Ingles: Small school overtime playoff madness (2018 Class 1A First Round: Forreston vs. Milledgeville)
Playoff football is exciting enough, but it gets even better if there’s an overtime tacked on to that playoff football. Overtime playoff football involving two teams from the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference is something else entirely.
The 2018 Class 1A playoffs saw powerhouse Forreston visit unbeaten Milledgeville in the second round.
After both teams scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, trading short-yardage runs for a 6-6 tie and longer runs to make it 14-14, the game settled into the kind of defensive slugfest where first downs were hard to come by.
Both teams made goal-to-go fourth-down stops, both teams gave their punter a workout, both teams turned the ball over in the final minute of regulation. After a Milledgeville fumble set the Cardinals up at the Missiles’ 25 with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Forreston tried for a pass into the corner of the end zone (one of six passes Forreston attempted in the game), but Milledgeville’ Thane Yingling and Cayde Gusloff knocked it away from the Cardinals’ Jakob Boomgarden.
Forreston got the ball first in overtime and scored on its second play, a nine-yard carry into wide open space on the left side by Garrett Badertscher, who then punched in the two-point conversion.
The Missiles got to the one on first down in their overtime possession, then scored on a Nate Rahn carry up the middle two plays later.
But Forreston was able to disrupt the two-point conversion attempt, and a desperation lateral led to a fumble. Forreston 22, Milledgeville 20, final score in OT.
Milledgeville, a loaded team with a 10-0 record going into the game, saw its title chances end. Forreston would beat conference rivals the following two weeks as well in Dakota and Lena-Winslow and win its third state title in five years.
In Forreston’s three postseason wins over conference rivals, the Cardinals outscored teams 78-68. In the two playoff games against teams not in the NUIC, they outscored those teams 92-6.
Jake Bartelson: 'Why not us?' (St. Charles North vs. Mt. Carmel, 2018 Class 7A semifinals)
I am still considered "the new guy on the block" covering prep football. There are those in our industry that have covered players in high school who are now coaching their alma maters in some cases. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to choose between the hundreds of games. I'm extremely fortunate to cover the market I am in, and watching two teams compete for a state championship in consecutive years on the beat has not washed over me. The collective talent and coaching is tremendous across the board.
That being said, St. Charles North's 27-21 double overtime victory over Mt. Carmel in the Class 7A semifinals – to launch the program into its first-ever state title appearance last season – is a storyteller's dream. It "wasn't supposed to happen."
Context surrounding the season is essential to understand why this game was almost too good to be true. And, it has absolutely nothing to do with North being my alma mater.
Losing starting quarterback Peyton Brown to a season-ending ACL injury in the first game of the season is just the start. His younger brother, Kyler, was thrust into the spotlight as a junior. Injuries at running back, linebacker and other positions mounted all season.
Five-star Minnesota recruit, Tyler Nubin, had to adjust into a wildcat running threat role much earlier than anticipated – all while shutting down half the field defensively at corner. Whenever he was in the backfield, there was no doubt he'd get the ball. Opposing teams knew it. He produced time and time again anyway.
Heading into the 7A semifinals, history was not in North’s favor. Mt. Carmel, of course, is one of the most accomplished and storied high school programs in the state. It was back in the semis for the second consecutive season, vying for a possible 13th state championship. North, as a 22 seed, was in uncharted territory.
One of the best parts of the story occurred hours before the game. Nubin, fittingly, had told a bold proclamation to his mother.
“I told her I was going to score three touchdowns,” Nubin told me following the game and his 135-yard rushing day.
He scored four, including the game-clinching touchdown.
The possession before, a fumble by Caravan running back Kenenna Odeluga near the goal line was recovered by linebacker Ben Furtney.
The Caravan had tied the game at 14 with seconds left in the third quarter following an interception by Eddie McGee.
Two Mount Carmel possessions after its tying TD, Odeluga got the Caravan down to the North Stars' 1-yard line after five consecutive rushes. On third-and-goal, Caravan quarterback Rad Premovic, on a keeper, fumbled the snap, but Mount Carmel recovered eight yards back.
Julian Patino attempted a go-ahead field goal at the 9-yard-line, but it was blocked and recovered by North Stars junior DJ Oshin with a minute left in regulation.
An eruption of cheers honestly doesn’t give that moment justice. It was shocking. Unbelievable. The team that had its heart ripped out over and over again all season just wouldn’t die.
Its destiny to reach a state title game wouldn’t be denied. After all, it’s a story that was four years in the making.
"We've always said as a freshman this is the team to do it [get to state],” Brown told me back in June at a 7x7 camp.
The storybook finish didn’t happen, falling to JJ McCarthy’s Nazareth Academy 31-10 in Champaign.
Though, instead of asking “what might’ve been”? I believe the North Stars will continue to ask themselves in future seasons “Why not us”?
