Football: Crystal Lake South’s comeback falls short

Updated: November 12, 2011 6:34PM

Austin Fowler stared at the ground in disbelief, shaking his head. “I made too many mistakes today,” the senior Crystal Lake South quarterback said.

The host Gators suffered six turnovers and fell behind 17 points in the first quarter and watched a valiant fourth quarter rally fall short as Rockford Boylan captured the 30-13 Class 7A quarterfinal Saturday afternoon.

Junior Rockford Boylan Peter Cimino registered three interceptions and also recovered a fumble to spark the Titans (12-0). Boylan, who won the Class 6A championship last year, won its 26th consecutive game. “We came out ready to play,” Cimino said. “Our coaches really prepared us.”

Boylan seized a 17-0 advantage in the first seven minutes. That spelled disaster for the patient and methodical Gators (10-2).

“Our offense is not a chase from behind offense,” Gators’ coach Chuck Ahsmann said. “We had to not give up the big play and we didn’t do that, and we had to be able to run the ball and we didn’t do that.”

Quarterback Lamont Toney’s 54-yard completion to DeMarcus Vines set up the Titans’ opening score, a two-yard burst by Marquez Beeks. On the ensuing possession, Cimino intercepted Fowler and returned the ball to the Gators’ 10-yard line. Tyreis Thomas scored the first of his three touchdowns on a one-yard burst for the 14-0 Titans’ advantage just four minutes into the game.

Sean Slattery’s 26-yard field goal extended the Titans’ advantage to 17-0.

Cimino intercepted Fowler on the final play of the second quarter and also stymied another Gators’ scoring drive with an interception in his own end zone in the third quarter.

The Gators finally got untracked late in the third quarter, trailing 23-0. Fowler directed a nine-play, 46-yard drive keyed by a 17-yard pass to wideout Brad Walovitch and aided by a roughing the passer penalty against the Titans. Fowler ended the scoring drought with a beautiful corner fade to Eric Schiller for an eight-yard touchdown pass.

On the ensuing kickoff, kicker Walovitch recovered his own onside kick. Feeding off the momentum, Fowler connected with Walovitch for a 31-yard pass competition. Five plays later, fullback Reese Dziedzic smashed in from a yard out to pull the Gators within 23-13.

After the Gators’ defense held, a crucial holding call wiped out a long pass play to Walovitch and running back Brandon LaPak was stopped short on a fake punt on fourth down. Thomas’s one-yard run ended the scoring.

“We wanted to come out and be able to grind it out and run the ball, but we got behind and that made us become a throwing team, and I was okay with that,” Fowler said. “I put it all out there on the field, and we made some plays, but like I said, we made too many mistakes.”

It marked the second straight season the Gators bowed out in the quarterfinals. “This group of seniors had the most wins of any group in the history of the program,” Ahsmann said. “They did it without a superstar on offense.”

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