Ben Falloon said it was just a normal kick.
After a timeout, the Marist junior made a 24-yard field goal with one second to play that gave the RedHawks a 17-14 come-from-behind victory over Glenbard North in the Class 8A semifinals before more than 5,000 Saturday night in Carol Stream.
Marist (11-2) will face top-rated Maine South next Saturday night in Champaign for the state title.
‘‘I wasn’t really worried or bothered when they took a timeout before I kicked,’’ Falloon said. ‘‘I felt good, and when it went through, we had the amazing feeling that we were going Downstate.’’
Glenbard North (11-2), which came in with six shutouts, let its defense do the talking in the first half, putting the clamps to the Marist offense. The Panthers took a 7-0 lead with 1:51 to play in the second quarter on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Tom Traficanti to Mike Carev.
But the RedHawks came out in the second half and tied the game on a 14-yard pass from Mike Perish to Dan Piko, who caught the ball between two defenders.
The Panthers came back and moved down the field before Dave Pirkle's interception gave Marist the ball back.
In the fourth quarter, Evin Natick scored on a three-yard run to put Glenbard ahead 14-7 with 6:28 to play. But Marist answered with Perish scoring on a quarterback sneak from a foot away on fourth down.
But the RedHawks’ defense was inspired and two sacks, including the third of the game by Jack Hincks forced a punt from the end zone.
Marist returned it to the Glenbard 30 and an 11-yard run by Piko and an eight-yard keeper by Perish set up the game-winning field goal.
‘‘We came out in the second half and did what we were coached to do,’’ Marist defensive lineman Vince Maida said. ‘‘We’ve got faith in our coaches and what we do.’’
‘‘That was a great team we played with a great coach and a great defense,’’ Marist coach Pat Dunne said. ‘‘I told our kids you can measure height and weight and speed, but you can’t measure heart. My guys conditioned hard. We had the no-huddle offense that we wanted to use to our advantage.
‘‘I was six years old the last time Marist won [a state football championship]. My cousin Jerry Joyce was a captain of that team. He came and spoke to the team today. There is no way to measure how much good that did. He had some great words. But it is these guys, their work ethic and what they do out there.’’
Much of the Maine South coaching staff was on hand and Hawks coach David Inserra had high praise for Marist.
‘‘It is going to be a great matchup,’’ Inserra said. ‘‘We saw these guys at a 7-on-7 in the summer. They have a it all, an offense, a defense, an outstanding quarterback. It’s going to be a great game.’’
Saturday was great, as well, and for the first time in more than 30 years, Marist proved to be semi-tough and punched a ticket to Champaign.
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