More Top Picks Best Chronograph Watches For Men
player ready...St. Laurence wide receiver Keshawn Douglas received an unexpected text message from Vikings head coach Harold Blackmon last week.
“He texted me out of the blue,” Douglas said. “It was nighttime, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, coach is texting me. What could he possibly want?'”
Blackmon told Douglas, a junior transfer from Leo who admittedly struggled this season, to be ready for his opportunity. Talk about clairvoyance.
Douglas scored three second-half touchdowns Saturday night to help lead St. Laurence to a thrilling comeback and a 41-40 victory over Crete-Monee in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
“You always gotta be prepared,” Douglas said. “When your time is called, you’ve gotta go with it, and that’s what I did. When he texted me, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I never knew this game was going to come. When he called my number, I was prepared, and I was ready to go against some of the best high school players.”
St. Laurence (8-3) will host Lemont (11-0) in a 6A state quarterfinal next weekend.
It was an action-packed game that saw Crete-Monee (8-3) lead 40-28 with less than five minutes remaining after an 18-yard TD run from Xavier Ledet.
Ledet’s score looked like a finishing move, but less than a minute later, St. Laurence quarterback Romello Washington found Douglas for a 32-yard TD to cut Crete-Monee’s lead 40-35.
Crete-Monee’s drive stalled on the ensuing possession, and then pandemonium occurred.
The Warriors’ snap went sailing over punter Kevin Pate’s head for a 35-yard loss, setting up St. Laurence inside Crete’s 10-yard line with less than three minutes left.
Fayezon Smart took care of the rest. The speedy back showed power, plowing into the end zone from 4 yards out for the game-winning score.
“Halftime, we told each other to beat the odds and remain humble,” said Smart, whose Vikings trailed 27-14 at intermission. “That’s what our quarterback Romello Washington said. We weren’t giving up. We’re not a give-up team. We work too hard for that.”
Smart, who missed a portion of the season due to injury, ran for 154 yards and two TDs on 19 carries. He ripped a 63-yard touchdown on the Vikings’ first play from scrimmage.
Crete-Monee received a monster performance from Pate, who had 186 yards and two TDs on 10 catches. Pate added a 35-yard punt return for a score.
Da’Taun Carter tallied scoring runs of 13 and 55 yards for the Warriors. Carter’s 55-yard scoring run gave Crete-Monee a 33-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
“We found a way,” Blackmon said. “We don’t quit.”
Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.