Ellingham sneaks Argo by Evergreen Park

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:26PM

Joe Ellingham, Kaylen Sturges and the rest of the Argo offense weren't going to let the Argonauts' tremendous defensive play go to waste Friday.

Ellingham's one-yard quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 in double overtime lifted Argo to a 22-16 South Suburban Red win over host Evergreen Park.

Sturges (30 carries, 93 yards, 2 touchdowns) ran three times for nine yards to set up Ellingham, who dove up the middle and broke the goal line with a second effort for the win.

"The defense played great," Sturges said. "They deserved the win. We weren't really good on offense and I knew I needed to make some big plays in overtime. We want to get to the playoffs really bad."

At 5-2 (3-2 in conference), Argo – which hasn't made the playoffs since 2001 – has enough wins to qualify. Because of low playoff points, it will likely need one win in its final two games.

Evergreen Park had (4-3, 2-3) the ball first in the second overtime and was held to three yards on three plays. Jeremy Esparza's 24-yard field goal attempt then fell short.

On the first play of overtime, Sturges dashed for a 10-yard touchdown. Sturges added the two-point run to give Argo a 16-8 lead.

The Mustangs answered, with sophomore backup quarterback Brandon White (14 carries, 26 yards, 2 touchdowns; 4-of-10 passing, 79 yards) running for a 9-yard score and punching in the two-point conversion.

Evergreen Park trailed 8-0 with just under five minutes left in regulation and had come up short on many scoring opportunities before White jumpstarted the Mustangs.

White dashed 22 yards on a fourth-and-13 run to move the ball down to the five-yard line then snuck it in from the one. A two-point run by Victor Baker (25 carries, 141 yards) tied the game with 2 minutes, 52 seconds left.

Four times in the first half, Evergreen Park moved the ball inside the Argo 15-yard line.

The Mustangs came up empty each time.

"Our defense really stepped up," Argo coach Jim Innis said. "We're not good enough to blow people out; we're just good enough to be a pain in the neck and try to pull it out late."

Sturges punched in a 1-yard touchdown run and Chris Murphy (7 carries, 33 yards) added the two-point run to make it 8-0 midway through the third.

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