Hampshire earns first Fox Valley Conference win

Updated: October 1, 2011 12:23AM

Hampshire earned its first win of the season and first victory as a member of the Fox Valley Conference on Friday night, and did so in dramatic fashion, beating Fox Division foe Johnsburg 27-26 in overtime.

Knotted at 20 at the end of regulation, visiting Johnsburg found the end zone on its opening possession in overtime, but missed the extra point.

The Whip-Purs (1-5, 1-2) then turned to their workhorse, running back Chase Lundry. The senior took the carry on three straight plays, scoring on a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line to tie the game at 26. Kicker Omar Perez then nailed the extra point to give Hampshire a homecoming victory as the student section rushed the field.

“It was a crazy game. I’m so excited we finally got a victory,” Lundry said. “I just wanted our defense to get a stop (in overtime). Once we hit that extra point, I was the happiest kid in the world.”

Down 14-12 in the fourth quarter, the Whips went on a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a Nicholas Antonacci 1-yard touchdown plunge up the middle and a Lundry two-point conversion to take their first lead of the game, 20-14, with 3:10 left.

However, the Skyhawks (0-6, 0-3) weren’t done. After marching down the field, they found themselves at the 3-yard line with 34 seconds left, facing a fourth-and-two. Running back Tony DeStefano got the first down by inches on a rush up the middle, and then quarterback Jon Torgersen scored on a sneak with 11.1 seconds left to tie the game at 20. After a false start penalty, Johnsburg missed the extra point to send the game into overtime.

“I’m happy for our guys,” said Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh. “They keep working hard. They’ve had a tough go and it’s great to see a W here on homecoming. Hard work pays off.”

Early on, it looked like the Skyhawks’ spread offense would be too much for Hampshire to handle. DeStefano scored on a 10-yard run on Johnsburg’s first possession of the game, and Torgersen capped a four-play, 70-yard drive with a 14-yard run to give Johnsburg a 14-0 lead with 3:06 left in the first quarter.

The Whips got on the board with 3:32 left in the half on a Lundry 2-yard score to cut the deficit to 14-6.

Later, they cut the lead to 14-12 on a Lundry 7-yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left in the third.

Lundry rushed for 191 yards, 155 in the second half, on a whopping 35 carries with three touchdowns.

“He’s been our go-to guy on the ground all year,” Cavanaugh said. “When we need a couple yards, we give it to him. He’ll be the first to tell you he had some nice holes to run through too.”

Hampshire rushed for 277 yards and finished with 371 yards of total offense. After piling up 243 yards of offense in the first half, Johnsburg was held to 129 yards in the second half

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