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Football: Reese Dziedzic carries Crystal Lake South past Carmel
Updated: November 4, 2011 10:35PM
With a victory in sight, Crystal Lake South leaned on the brute strength of Reese Dziedzic.
The plan worked — the Gator halfback picked up six yards on third-and-2 to clinch a 14-9 victory over host Carmel Catholic Friday in a second-round IHSA Class 7A playoff game.
“Coach (Chuck Ahsmann) told me to get the first down,” Dziedzic related. “I was pretty confident I could get it.”
The 6-foot, 210-pound senior collected big chunks of yardage all night. He finished the contest with 127 yards on 30 carries, including a two-yard touchdown run on the Gators’ opening drive.
Dziedzic was a workhorse during that initial drive, collecting 70 yards on nine attempts.
“We haven’t really gotten our running game going this year,” Dziedzic said. “But our line has been working hard in practice. It was very easy to run behind them tonight.”
Crystal Lake South (10-1) took control of the contest in the third quarter when quarterback Austin Fowler tossed a 79-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dom Winiecki.
“We had cleaned up our run defense,” said Carmel coach Andy Bitto, “and then they hit the tight end that they never throw to.”
Carmel (7-4) refused to quit, however. Trailing 14-3, the Corsairs marched 90 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Strong runs by quarterback Brian Brennan, fullback Jordan Kos and halfback Michael Panico keyed the 21-play march. Panico finished the long journey with a 1-yard run.
“We finally started to get our offense going a little bit,” Panico said. “We were hoping to get some more time at the end.”
Time became a problem when the Corsairs were unable to stop Dziedzic on that key third down. Carmel did get the ball at its own 28 with 32 seconds to play, but the desperation drive netted minus-3 yards in four plays as time expired.
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