Trick play lands Coal City a treat

Coal City's Eric Grunauer (left) looks for a block on his 9-yard touchdown run in the Coalers' 17-10 win over Sandwich.
larry kane/special to the herald news

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COAL CITY -- When there's a matchup of conference opponents in the high school football playoffs, there aren't many secrets between the two teams.

That was especially true Saturday night, when Coal City and Sandwich met in the first round of the 4A playoffs. The Coalers had beaten Sandwich 35-14 in Week 6, so there wasn't much for either team to prepare for.

Or was there?

Coal City (7-3) pulled the proverbial rabbit out of its hat late in the third quarter, hitting the Indians (6-4) with a reverse to, of all people, their second tight end, en route to a 17-10 victory.

On 2nd-and-8 from the Sandwich 9, Eric Grunauer came behind the line from the left end as all the action was moving to the left. Quarterback Colt Smith faked to Bobby Kroeger going left and handed to Grunauer, who was motoring to the right. Grunauer broke a tackle at the 5 and went into the end zone to give the Coalers a 16-3 lead. Dan Marlin's extra point made it 17-3 with 42 seconds left in the third quarter.

"That's a trick play we've been working on the last few weeks," Grunauer said. "We put it in four weeks ago and we've been waiting for the right time to use it.

"All I was thinking when it was called in the huddle was, 'Get in the end zone.' It felt great to score there."

It proved to be the game-winner, as Sandwich was able to get a 4-yard run from Bobby Hook with 6:35 left following an interception and 29-yard return to the Coal City 47 by Bryan Lopez.

"They caught us off-guard with that reverse," Sandwich coach Derek Avery said. "We hadn't seem them run it before. It was a good call by them."

The Coal City defense, meanwhile, used more conventional methods to curtail the powerful Sandwich wing-T attack.

The Coalers limited the Indians to 146 yards, all on the ground. Sandwich attempted only one pass, a last-ditch effort by Justin Wegener that was intercepted by Kevin Gabehart with 26 seconds left. The only other time the Indians tried to pass, Wegener was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Nate Carpenter.

"They are very potent right off the bus," Coal City coach Lenny Onsen said. "It was big for us after they got the opening kick to stop them. A lot of their games, they drive right down and score and put you behind right away. We were able to stop them and that gave us a big boost."

After the Coalers, who visit Aurora Christian -- a 41-0 winner over Plano -- next week, forced the Indians to punt, they gave Sandwich a dose of their own brand of power football.

Out of the spread formation to start, Robert McLuckie ran for a 7-yard gain. Back in the I, Bobby Kroeger ripped off a gain of 7 yards for a first down. Kroeger was hit hard on the play and went to the sideline, but Dan Marlin stepped in and ran for 8 yards on first down. On 3rd-and-2, Kroeger was back in and ran for a 6-yard gain, but the Coalers were whistled for holding. On 3rd-and-6, though, Sandwich was called for defensive holding, giving the Coalers a first down at the Indian 34.

On 3rd-and-7, Colt Smith hit Gabehart with an 8-yard pass to the 23. Three Kroeger runs gave Coal City a first down at the 13, and he ran for 11 more on first down. On the next play, he swept to the left for the remaining 2 yards and Marlin's kick gave Coal City a 7-0 lead.

"Bobby has really improved as the year's gone on," Onsen said about the junior back who finished with 90 yards on 26 carries. "He's a student of the game. Sometimes, he'll put on a move that I know isn't one of his moves. It's one he picked up from watching someone else on TV or something.

"But that's the way he is. He's always trying to get better."

The two teams traded punts before Sandwich finally got its offense moving from its own 23.

On 2nd-and-5, fullback Nick Futrell (13 carries, 72 yards) ran for a 15-yard gain. On 3rd-and-4 from the Coal City 41, Futrell ripped off a 10-yard gain. Tim Schmitt (15 carries, 51 yards) then ran for 9 yards and Futrell got another first down with a 7-yard pickup. The Coal City defense stiffened, though, and the Indians had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Josh Fischback to cut the lead to 7-3 with 2:54 to play in the first half.

Coal City then got the benefit of a pass interference call to move the ball to the Sandwich 36. Two runs by Kroeger moved it to the 22 before Smith was sacked for a 6-yard loss by Nick Palmer. Smith was under pressure again on the next play, but he escaped and ran for an 18-yard gain to the Sandwich 10. From there, Smith threw three incompletions, bringing on Marlin for a 27-yard field goal attempt.

Marlin's kick fell short, but Sandwich was called for running into the kicker, giving the Coalers another chance from five yards closer. This time, Marlin's kick had the distance and the accuracy, and Coal City took a 10-3 lead into halftime.

"That field goal was huge," Onsen said. "We caught a break and we were able to take advantage of it. You have to do that if you are going to win a playoff game."

Neither team had much going early in the second half and the Coalers took over at their own 30 with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter. Kroeger broke loose for a 25-yard gain to the Sandwich 38. On 4th-and-5 from the 22, a pass interference call on a screen pass gave Coal City a first down at the 11. A 2-yard run by Kroeger set the stage for Grunauer's improbable reverse.

"Coach (Dan) Hutchings made that call," Onsen said. "We were trying to make something happen, and Eric made a great run. He got hit early, but he kept his feet moving and got in."

Sandwich refused to give in, though, and Lopez's interception and return set up the drive that saw Hook score to cut the lead to 17-10.

"We never quit and we played hard," Avery said. "That was a big play by Bryan and for our defense. Being in the playoffs is a great experience for our underclassmen, and for the seniors. They don't feel good about it now, but they will after they look back on the season.

"We competed better than we have in the last three or four weeks. We just made some mistakes and they capitalized om them. That's football."