Belvidere drove 73 yards in 15 plays late in the game to pull out a 21-14 victory Wednesday over No. 18 McHenry in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
Belvidere quarterback Scott Anderson (54 yards, 15 carries) scored touchdowns on runs of 1 and 4 yards to bring Belvidere to within a point. With McHenry leading 14-13, Belvidere halfback Joe Sturges got the winning TD on a 2-yard run with 4 minutes 20 seconds remaining.
McHenry drove back to Belvidere`s 15-yard line in the last minute, but quarterback Erik Ekstrom (11 of 18, 156 yards) missed a pass to Casey Watrous (143 yards, 10 carries). ”We haven`t had to drive the field like that to win a game all season,” Belvidere coach Vern Pottinger said. ”It was a tough situation for the kids, but they really came through over a fine football team.”
Rolling Meadows 29, Round Lake 22-Mike Sowka`s 32-yard pass to Jason Lee with seven seconds remaining gave the Mustangs (7-3) the controversial home victory.
The winning drive covered only two plays and started on Rolling Meadows`
38-yard line with 42 seconds to play. On the first play, Sowka hit Andrew Thomas for 15 yards. A penalty for hitting out of bounds gave the Mustangs 15 more, setting up the winning play.
”It`s a tough way to lose, especially when the officials make a call like that,” said Round Lake coach Mike Dunn, whose team finished 8-2.
”Life`s not fair. But I`m proud of our kids the way they fought back.”
”How could you have a better scenario to an end of a game?” said Rolling Meadows coach Fred Lussow, whose team blew a 21-7 lead.
Sowka completed 10 of 16 for 163 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
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Rockford Auburn 33, Crystal Lake Central 12-Cory Patterson raced 24 yards for a touchdown and caught a 27-yard pass from Matt Nelson for another for Rockford Auburn (7-3). Craig Rideout (29 carries, 139 yards) added two scores on short runs, and Ivan Williams (15 carries, 124 yards) had a 15-yard TD run. David Beasley had a 66-yard touchdown run for Crystal Lake (6-4).
Peoria Richwoods 42, Kankakee 29-Unbeaten Richwoods got bookend games from Darrel Taylor (22 carries, 107 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Brian Franklin
(10 carries, 107 yards, 2 touchdowns).