On St. Edward’s first play from scrimmage, it looked like it was going to be a big night for the Green Wave.
Senior quarterback Dylan Mlinarich hit Tyler Holte on a post route and Holte streaked for the end zone Friday on the 58-yard pass play that put St. Edward in the lead.
But after holding a halftime advantage, the Green Wave allowed Riverside-Brookfield to get back into the game. The Bulldogs scored 21 unanswered points for a 21-14 Metro Suburban Blue win in Elgin.
St. Edward (4-4, 1-3) missed a chance to become eligible for the playoffs, and will need a win next week against Wheaton Academy in the regular-season finale.
Riverside-Brookfield (7-1, 3-1) has already clinched a postseason berth.
The Green Wave recorded five sacks and had two interceptions and led 14-0 on a 1-yard touchdown run by David Madden with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.
“It was a tough game,” Mlinarich said. “We played amazing defense. Coach (Mike Rolando) said we definitely earned a win, but just fell short.
“We just have to turn the page. They’re (the Bulldogs) a good team, they’re a 6A state championship-caliber team.”
St. Edward, which led 14-7 at halftime, lined up for a 31-yard field goal attempt with 6:36 to play to extend its lead to 10 points, but Dave Madden missed wide left.
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“Dave’s a great field goal kicker,” Mlinarich said. “We couldn’t tell from the sideline if it was in or not. We’ve been in these situations before and we should be able to capitalize on it, but it was definitely tough.”
On the next play, Nick Del Nodal outraced the Green Wave to the end zone on an 80-yard run for a 14-14 tie with 6:23 left.
“All game we knew we were going to bust one open,” Del Nodal said. “We saw how kind of the safeties were starting to spread out in the middle of the field so we started to run a run-pass option.
“The O-line gave me a humungous hole and I never ran harder in my life.”
Del Nodal rushed for 206 yards on 23 carries with two TDs
After a sack forced a punt on the Green Wave’s next possession, Hunter Hughes connected with Zach Vaia from 26 yards in what turned out to be the game-winning TD with 50 seconds to play.
Mlinarich completed 13 of 29 passes for 235 yards. Ryan Pomeroy added four catches for 104 yards.
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.