FS_110917

46 | November 9, 2017 | The frankfort station sports
frankfortstation.com
Griffins advance to quarterfinals after narrow Round 2 victory
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way East was
down — possibly out.
After giving up a touchdown
to St. Charles East that
made it 14-12 Saints with
1:17 left in the game Saturday,
Nov. 4, in St. Charles,
it’s not hyperbole to say
people were penning the final
sentences of the Griffins’
2017 season.
But as has been the case all
season, the No. 1-ranked team
in the state and top seed in the
Illinois High School Association
Class 8A playoffs needed
just one play — one spark —
to ignite their team.
Enter sophomore A.J.
Henning, who fielded the ensuing
kickoff near the 5-yard
line. Henning began running
up the middle, but after getting
a huge block from a
teammate, he cut to his left
and raced up the sideline
past several defenders before
getting knocked out of
bounds.
By the end of the run,
Henning had made it to the
Saints’ 43-yard line — a return
of more than 50 yards.
It was the spark the Griffins
needed. With just 1:07 seconds
left in the game, on the
first play from scrimmage,
East senior quarterback
Brendan Morrissey (9-of-13,
121 yards) looked deep and
found senior Mason Keenan
(4 receptions, 88 yards), who
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Providence Catholic (7-4) at St. Laurence (8-3)
Lincoln-Way East (11-0) hosts Oswego (10-1)
Lincoln-Way Central (10-1) hosts Benet Academy (8-3)
Lincoln-Way West (9-2) hosts Batavia (10-1)
caught the pass in traffic for a
32-yard gain to put the ball at
the Saints’ 9-yard line.
“Obviously, AJ with that
spark … when they went up
with a minute left, it would
have been easy to hang your
head,” Morrissey said. “But
we got that spark with AJ.
Then, Mason beat his guy
… and he made a huge play.
“We know we’ve got a
lot of fight. We’ve had a
few games like this now
where we’ve had to come
back and make plays when
we have to. We know we’re
going to fight.”
But St. Charles East wasn’t
ready to throw in the towel,
either. After a hard-fought
game in which the Saints had
led virtually the whole way,
the Saints snuffed out East’s
next play — a 1-yard run by
Morrissey. East quickly used
a timeout to pause the game
with 43 seconds left.
A false start then moved
the Griffins back to the
Saints’ 13. But Morrissey
fired a pass to Henning for a
5-yard gain, getting it back to
the Saints’ 8. Then, East took
another timeout with 34.6
seconds remaining. On the
third-and-goal attempt, Morrissey
was stopped for a run
of no gain — prompting the
final timeout from East.
Onto the field jogged East
sophomore kicker Dominic
Dzioban, who set up at the
Saints’ 15. On a wet, muddy,
44-10
Tim Carroll | Sports Editor
• Providence 35, St. Laurence 17. St.
Laurence has the better record, but
the Vikings have not faced the same
level of competition.
• LW East
• LW Central
• Batavia
East's Matt Judd turns a bad snap into the Griffins' first
touchdown Saturday, Nov. 4, during Round 2 of the Class
8A IHSA playoffs. Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
grass field, the snap came out
perfect.
“Honestly, it was just blank
mind, focus on making that
kick — that’s all I was thinking
of, nothing else,” Dzioban
said.
The sophomore booted the
ball through the uprights for
a successful 25-yard kick,
giving East (11-0) the 15-14
lead with 23 seconds remaining.
After his teammates on
the field finished mobbing
him, Dzioban savored the
moment, jogging off the field
with both hands up in the air.
“It’s crazy,” Dzioban said.
“I’ve dreamt of this day for
many years. It finally came. I
love it. I live for these.
“That just shows what kind
of an amazing group we have
here — being able to get over
44-10
Tom Czaja | Contributing
Editor
• Providence 35, St. Laurence 21.
Formidable schedule of Celtics has
team well-prepared to continue
playoff run to semifinal.
• LW East
• LW Central
• Batavia
42-12
Joe Coughlin | Publisher
• Providence 34, St. Laurence 24.
Like many Chicago Catholic League
teams, the Celtics are built for this.
• LW East
• LW Central
• LW West
all the attrition. That’s a big
word in our program. I think
that showed tonight.”
On the final play of the
game, a St. Charles East pass
was stripped in the air from
the receiver’s hands by East
senior defensive back Dugan
Bolsoni, icing the game and
giving the Griffins the Round
2 victory.
“We saw [adversity] late
in the Bolingbrook game,
so nobody flinched,” East
coach Rob Zvonar said. “As
long as there was time left
on the clock, we were going
to battle. At the same time, it
wasn’t looking real promising.
But again, they probably
felt like they kicked it to the
wrong kid deep, and [Henning]
did what he does. In my
opinion, he’s as good a sophomore
skill player as there is
in the state, and [Dzioban] is
as good a sophomore kicker
as there is in the state. I’m
glad they play for us.”
But Zvonar also was
quick to compliment St.
Charles East.
“The gritty, amazing effort
that they had today; toe to toe
the whole way, they probably
deserved to win the game —
making that play and going
up [late],” Zvonar said.
He also pointed to two
early special teams gaffes the
Griffins made that could have
been the difference between
winning and losing.
The first of those mistakes
came on the opening kickoff,
as Saints’ senior Nicholas
Garlisch fielded the ball
past the 5-yard line and shed
several tacklers early before
busting down the sideline for
a 95-yard touchdown 13 seconds
into the game.
After the Griffins’ offense
stalled on their opening drive,
the defense came up big. On
a third-and-5 from the Saints’
own 12, the Griffins forced
a fumble, with senior Dylan
Shelton falling on top of the
loose ball.
After three failed shots at
scoring, the Griffins sent out
Dzioban — but it was a ruse.
East senior Matt Judd received
the snap, got up and ran in a
10-yard touchdown with 5:44
left in the first quarter.
But on the extra-point attempt,
the kick by Dzioban
went wide to the left, meaning
the Saints held the lead at
7-6.
“There are two special
teams errors to start the day
that got you down and could
have cost you the ballgame,”
Zvonar said. “But we persevered,
fought back and took
the lead late.”
Despite the impressive
defensive performance by
East in the first half, which
included a sack by Jaden Hacha
and a fumble recovery by
Brendan Gallagher, the Griffins
weren’t able to put any
additional points on the board
in the first half.
It wasn’t until the fourth
quarter that the offense got
going again, and it came
courtesy of great field position.
The Saints opted to go for
it on a fourth-and-1 from
their own 35. But their rushing
attempt by Justin Jett was
stopped for no gain at the
line, turning the ball over on
downs.
From there, Morrissey had
three straight runs of 9, 3 and
7 yards, followed by a pass
to senior Turner Pallissard
(4 receptions, 28 yards) for a
6-yard gain to set the offense
up at the Saints’ 10. But after
a run for no gain, a false start
penalty and a 1-yard gain, the
Griffins faced a third-andgoal
from the Saints’ 14.
The Griffins opted to use
a play they had practiced all
week, Pallissard said.
“We knew the safeties
would go out wide and the
linebackers would step up,
because B-Mo is such a versatile
quarterback,” Pallissard
said. “They were [respecting]
his running ability.
I saw them step up and just
saw the opening, so I ran to
the back of the end zone.
B-Mo threw a perfect pass.”
Morrissey connected with
Pallissard over the middle,
and Pallissard reached up
over his shoulders to haul
in the score in the end zone.
East had its first lead of the
day at 12-7 with 6:07 left in
the game.
The Griffins tried for two
but came up short.
Then, the Saints fought
back. With the following
drive starting at their
own 35, the Saints started
converting big plays. That
included a fourth-and-7
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