Lemont can't contain Sacred Heart-Griffin

Sacred Heart-Griffin's Gary Wilson is brought down by two Lemont defenders as he runs the ball during the IHSA Class 6A high school football championship.
(Brett Nadal/Associated Press)

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CHAMPAIGN — The big plays just didn’t go Lemont’s way. Neither did the score.

Despite a stellar effort from the Indians, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin won its third state championship since 2005 with a 37-15 victory over Lemont in the Class 6A title game Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Lemont (13-1) had the lead twice in the first half. After its defense held the Cyclones (13-1) to a field goal after two third-quarter interceptions, the Indians cut a 14-point deficit to 23-15 after quarterback Nick Lawrence’s nine-yard touchdown run with 9:10 to play.

But Sacred Heart-Griffin came up with the big play that broke Lemont’s back.

After a one-yard run by Gary Wilson (19 carries, 122 yards), the Cyclones’ 5-8 junior exploded for 64 yards on a belly option up the middle before Lemont linebacker Luke Anderson (seven tackles) ran him down. It set up an eight-yard scoring pass from Tom Dondanville to John Lanz.

“We missed a few tackles,” Lemont coach Eric Michaelsen said. “We missed more tackles today than we have in a while. I’m a little disappointed with the result, but not with the effort. These kids put their heart and soul into Lemont football and we went toe-to-toe with a very good Sacred Heart-Griffin team.”

“On the interceptions, I just tried to force the ball in to [the receivers],” Lawrence said. “Our ultimate goal was to get back here and we did it, with a lot of sweat, hard work and pain. This is possibly my last football game and the last time I play with these guys.”

Wilson capped the scoring with a 10-yard scoring run with 2:06 to play.

The Cyclones' defense gave the Indians fits. SHG had three interceptions and held the ground game to 136 yards on 43 carries. Junior Danny Hayes, who missed the season last year following surgery on his right shoulder, led the way with 76 yards and 18 carries.

“It was real frustrating because I knew I missed an opportunity,” Hayes said. “We have to start on next year tomorrow.”

Lemont scored first when Mike Orszulak kicked a 23-yard field goal. But just 30 seconds later, the Cyclones struck with a 72-yard pass from Dondanville to Dominic Walton.

Early in the second quarter, Lawrence scored on a one-yard run to put Lemont up 9-7. The PAT was blocked. But Wilson scored twice in 2:34 on runs of 10 and seven yards to put the Cyclones up 20-9 at halftime.

Lemont’s roster has the two latest Nagels, junior starting linebacker Connor and sophomore linebacker Derek, who was elevated to the varsity for the state playoffs. And yes, there is an alphabetical progression. Older brothers Aaron and Brett are playing at Northwestern. And still to hit high school are Emily and Flynn.

“We tried to disguise coverages, but they’re a great team and we struggled to keep up with them,” Connor Nagel said. “They have a great offensive line, and receivers and skill guys.

“Our goal from the start was to work our butts off to get back to state. It was awesome to make it back down here. This team was a unit and we have to work hard to do that next year.”

“Each team has its own personality,” Michaelsen said. “The goal is to make the playoffs. We have some kids back who did some pretty big things and Jimmy Purvin will be a three-year starter on the offensive line.”

The Cyclones, who lost a big lead and fell to Montini 34-31 in their season opener, won 13 in a row and outscored their opponents 563-147 in the streak. The Indians were runners-up for the second year in a row.