Andrew 25, Brother Rice 6-Andrew coach Mike O`Neill did things a little differently, and it paid off with a berth in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
J.R. White completed 16 of 26 for 226 yards and one touchdown to lead No. 6 Andrew (11-0), which normally prefers to run the ball.
”That was for a number of reasons,” said O`Neill. ”I knew from playing Brother Rice over the years how they were going to line up. We tried to find the one-on-one coverage. Our play-action was real good. The field was frozen by the end of the game and really hard to run the ball.”
Andrew took a 7-0 lead on White`s second-quarter pass to Mike Glavin and Dan Rippenger`s extra point. Then the Thunderbolts returned to the ground, making it 13-0 on Mike Fahey`s 7-yard run later in the second period.
”We were intent on throwing the ball early and then running it late;
we`re normally a 70-30 run team but we thought that to beat them we needed to establish the pass,” O`Neill said.
Fahey`s 2-yard run in the third quarter made it 19-0. John Zilcwiz`s 15-yard run later in the period ended Andrew`s scoring and Brother Rice`s season at 8-3.
Zilwicz had 11 carries for 52 yards and Fahey 5 carries for 38 yards. Jim Martin had 4 receptions for 76 yards and Glavin 4 catches for 55 yards.
Andrew`s quarterfinal opponent will be Thornwood which eliminated defending 6A champion Thornton.
”We know they beat a great team today, so it should be a good game,”
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O`Neill said.
East St. Louis 27, Moline 7-East St. Louis (10-1) was led by Chris Moore
(158 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries), Roderick Fischer (83 yards and one touchdown on five carries) and Corey Dent (two TDs).