Playing perhaps the worst football game of his record-setting high school career, Libertyville quarterback Riley Lees saved his best for the last second Saturday.
Lees dived into the end zone on fourth-and-goal with no time left, and the Wildcats pulled out an improbable 22-17 win against Bradley-Bourbonnais, denying the Boilermakers a program-defining upset in a Class 7A semifinal during a blizzard in Bradley.
Lees’ fumble led to a 24-yard field goal for Bradley and a 17-14 lead for the Boilers with 3 minutes, 37 seconds to play. Libertyville got within 17-16 with a safety, then Lees led an 11-play, 60-yard drive as time winded down.
Libertyville (13-0) will play Glenbard West (13-0) for the 7A title at 4 p.m. Saturday at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. It’s the Wildcats’ third state-final appearance and first since winning the 7A title in 2004. Bradley (9-4) was playing in its first semifinal.
“I have no words right now. We fought a heck of a game. And I think that was my worst performance,” said Lees, who accounted for all four of his teams turnovers but rushed for 232 yards and passed for 106. “At the end we were lining up and I was yelling, ‘Run power, run power,’ and I just jumped over the line. I was laying in the end zone, so I knew I was in.”
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The winning drive included Lees completions of 11, 16, 20 and 7 yards. He was stuffed at the 2 on third-and-goal with fewer than 10 seconds remaining, but managed to get a play off on fourth down before time expired.
“We found something that worked at the end and pulled it together,” said Libertyville’s Tim Calamari, who caught two passes during the final drive. “We haven’t trailed all season and found a way to win today. And now we’re going downstate.”
That seemed a foregone conclusion early in the contest before the heavy snow started falling. Lees touchdown runs of 1 and 74 yards staked the Wildcats to a 14-0 first quarter lead.
The Boilermakers reached Libertyville’s red zone three times in the first half but failed to score until Camron Harrell took a short Owen Starr pass and went 74 yards for a touchdown shortly before halftime.
Following a Lees interception early in the second half, Harrell scored on a 6-yard keeper from a direct snap to tie the score 14-14. Lees’ midfield fumble early in the fourth quarter led to Josh Lazaro’s go-ahead field goal with 3:37 to play.
Lees’ final fumble turned into a positive for the Warriors, as Bradley fumbled in its own end zone on its next play for a safety that gave Libertyville two points and the ball back.
“I don’t low how to put in into words,” Bradley coach Mike Kohl said. “These young men have been fighting like this all year. All the way to the last second today.”
Phil English is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Player of the game: Riley Lees, Libertyville, 28 carries, 232 yards, 3 TDs.
Key performers: Libertyville — Henry Schmidt, 4 receptions, 56 yards; Riley Buncic, safety. Bradley Bourbonais – Camron Harrell, 6 receptions, 112 yards, TD. Owen Starr, 18-for-32, 181 yards, TD.