After being stripped by Mount Carmel's defense for a second-effort fumble on the first series, Lincoln-Way East High School offensive coordinator Ryan Gabey went with No. 11 again, going right back to senior Justin Wittl on second-and-11 with the Griffins already trailing 7-0.
A 5-foot-8, 160-pound wingback and shotgun singleback, Wittl whipped through the blocking of East's offensive line like the freezing wind, whittled past the Caravan linebackers like a lumberjack and then weaved up, over and around the secondary with the dizzying deal of a Tilt-A-Whirl.
As the preponderance of the standing-room-only crowd in Frankfort rose on cue, Wittl worked his way in spectacular fashion toward the turf of the end zone, finishing an 81-yard touchdown run -- except as he thrust his arm into the air in celebration, something else fluttered and dropped to the ground.
A yellow flag.
"Yeah, I don't know what happened," Wittl said. "It looked to me like everything was blocked right, I found the seam somehow and we came out good on that, but penalties will kill you at the end. I didn't even look back, though. I ran my hardest. I ran my heart out."
Matching the passionate beat of a "waterbug" in Wittl, the entire Lincoln-Way East football team played its heart out as well Friday night. However, Mount Carmel rode the riptide of a 14-point third quarter for a 34-31 win in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs.
In the face of wintry conditions, Wittl closed his career with 2 carries for 2 yards and 2 catches for 31 yards, those numbers belying his impact as third-seeded Lincoln-Way East (9-2) tried to avoid a second playoff loss to sixth-seeded Mount Carmel (9-2) in the past three seasons.
Spencer Stanek, East's superbly elusive quarterback, noted that Wittl was 20 yards downfield in his view before the penalty flag was thrown on the potential tying score at 5 minutes into the first quarter. From there, Wittl helped East earn leads of 16-10 and 24-17 at halftime, the nail-bite game then evolving for classic effect.
A barnburner.
"We played well out there," said Wittl, whose senior year featured 79 carries for 462 yards and 2 TDs, plus 12 receptions for 246 yards and 4 TDs. "I'm not happy with the result, but it is the result, and we'll have to move on. We fought the good fight -- we just didn't win."
"Oh yeah, he's a waterbug," East coach Rob Zvonar said of Wittl. "It goes back to the old saying, 'They don't stop to weigh and measure you before a street fight,' and I'll take Justin Wittl any day of the week and twice on Friday nights."
On a night with more momentum swings than a roller-coaster ride at Six Flags Great America, Wittl's initial wallop came on a 29-yard screen. Junior Kevin Starke lined up as the wingback and motioned into trips out of the shotgun to the right side. Stanek set it up and connected with Wittl on the left.
The next play saw Starke (11 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 27 yards, 1 TD) -- remember his name for 2009 -- rumble for the go-ahead score on a 7-yard pitch out of the power-I. But just ask Stanek (13-of-27 passing, 253 yards; 13 carries, 57 yards) how big Wittl was on the screen gem.
"He's a great kid and he has a lot of heart, and it shows on plays like that," Stanek said. "He's going to give it out every play and he's going to go hard on every single play. That's the way he is. This whole team has great heart and we all have each other's backs on things."
"Well, we set that up real nice," Wittl recalled. "Spencer did a good job, our offensive line did a great job of selling it and it was the perfect time to run that, I have to admit. We caught their defense off guard."
Although Mount Carmel regained the lead at 17-16 behind the belly-option punch of senior quarterback Jordan Lynch (27 carries, 183 yards, 2 TDs) and junior halfback Milton Greer (14 carries, 98 yards, 1 TD), Wittl wound up like the Energizer bunny and blasted the Caravan for a 61-yard kickoff return.
At first, Wittl and senior wide receiver Eric Sawicki appeared to battle for control of the kick. Wittl, though, snagged the ball and snaked into the wedge, finally being caught from behind at the 38. That put the Griffins in good position as Stanek's 14-yard TD pass to Starke with 48 seconds left built the 24-17 edge.
It was a close, close call.
"We almost did (collide), but it came right to me and I took it out of natural instinct," Wittl said "And it happened out of nowhere. I hit it up the middle and there was a huge seam. I got lucky to bring it down their side of the field, and for us to eventually score after that was huge."
"We both wanted the ball real bad," Sawicki said. "It was right to Wittl, so he got it, and he rode it right up there. He almost returned it all the way."
With 6:56 to play in the fourth quarter, Sawicki sped in a similar way. On the first play after Mount Carmel managed to take a 34-24 lead via a 25-yard field goal, Stanek spiraled a Division I touch pass to Sawicki on the left sideline for an 80-yard TD and another dose of mojo.
"I definitely thought that was going to get us going and I was ready," said Sawicki, who totaled 3 catches for 96 yards. "We did have a lot of momentum there, they had the momentum a lot of times, and it just kept going back and forth."
Poignantly, the Caravan halted East's comeback bid, stopping Stanek's 14-yard scramble on fourth-and-15 -- an amazing play, but a yard short. Judging by players like Wittl and Stanek, the Griffins' seniors stood head and shoulders.
It was a great, great class.
"East football is a big part of everyone's life here," Wittl said. "I owe a lot to these guys, we've been friends since we were little and I'm going to miss them. I'm just so sad to see this end ... "
e-mail: bscheibe@scn1.com
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