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Football: Lemont falls in 2OT to Richwoods
Updated: November 19, 2011 6:55PM
PEORIA — The tears, the tightened chins, the bit lips, all explained the outcome of Saturday’s Class 6A semifinal game better than the scoreboard.
That offered a stark recap: Peoria Richwoods 34, Lemont 31, in double overtime.
The faces of Lemont’s players explained fully what losing the semifinal game, and an opportunity to play Prairie Ridge in for the championship, meant to one and all. This was a group deeply invested emotionally, that investment paying dividends across 12 straight victories.
Now, minutes after losing on a 19-yard field goal by Richwoods’ Justin Cole at the end of the second overtime, with the Richwoods’ contingent in the gathering of 5,000 at Fred Enders Field in paroxysms of joy, it all came out.
“I love you guys; I’ll love you all my life,” senior linebacker Kyle Krull told his teammates.
“This was a good group of seniors that put a lot of time and effort into it,” coach Eric Michaelsen said. “We talk all the time about putting your all into it. They were too good of a team and we probably made a few too many mistakes for a game this far into the playoffs.”
Richwoods (10-3) turned the ball over three times and lost it on a botched punt return. Lemont (12-1) had four turnovers, the last coming on third-and-goal from the Richwoods 6-yard line on the second snap of the second overtime.
Quarterback Damon Aleman rolled right and passed left, off his back foot and against the wind across the field. The ball was well short of the intended receiver. Richwoods’ defensive back Mikail Davis picked it off.
Richwoods moved the ball from the Lemont 10 to the 2 in three rushes, and Cole was perfect with his field-goal attempt. The undefeated Indians were defeated.
“We’re finally here!” Richwoods running back Kendrick Foster (19 carries, 157 yards) yelped. “We finally made it!”
And dramatically. Lemont scored its fourth touchdown — the third scored on the ground by Mike Anzalone (40 carries, 177 yards) — largely thanks to the short field it received when Clayton Glapser fumbled on a reverse. The Indians moved 28 yards in five plays, Anzalone scoring from the 4 for a 28-14 lead with 9:57 left in the second half.
Richwoods answered with a 65-yard drive capped by Ryan Moredock’s 20-yard run. It was 28-21.
Then the miscues multiplied. The Indians turned the ball over three more times, first when receiver Drew Slee fumbled after gaining 20 yards on a reception. Richwoods scored four snaps later, Glasper hauling in Wes McCormick’s 11-yard touchdown pass two plays after Foster gained 57 yards on a dash deep into Lemont territory.
That forged a 28-all tie with 41.7 seconds left in the third. The Indians’ defense held after Tyler Jay’s fumble. Neither team threatened the rest of regulation. The teams traded field goals in the first overtime.
“How you deal with this, how you learn from it, will make you the excellent men I know you will be,” Michaelsen told his players. “I feel like crying too.”
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