Minooka takes down Quincy

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:12PM

The Minooka football team celebrated a block party Saturday afternoon, and as a result, Round 2 is especially interesting.

Round 2 of the Class 7A playoffs, and Round 2 of the Battle of Ridge Road between the Indians and Plainfield South at South.

Juniors Jake Residori and Alex Hamilton blocked second-half punts to set up touchdowns as Minooka erased a 7-0 halftime deficit and eliminated Quincy 26-7.

Those were the second and third blocked punts of the day for the Indians. Sophomore Max Brozovich got one in the first half, and on another punting situation, Quincy's Kendal Kendrick jumped for a high snap and decided not to kick. He tried running the ball out of the end zone, and Brozovich tackled him at the 2-yard line.

But even then, Minooka (9-1) failed to score, putting an exclamation point on a frustrating first half. Brozovich's block set up a first down at the Quincy 20, and that threat fizzled as well.

Quincy (7-3), which had done nothing offensively itself, finally drove 71 yards to a touchdown on its final possession of the half to lead 7-0.

But Minooka's offense played with renewed purpose in the second half. On the Indians' first possession of the third quarter, they drove 70 yards to the tying touchdown. Quarterback Mitch Brozovich took it in from 11 yards out and Jason Lizalek added the tying conversion.

Residori's block came in the final minute of the third quarter and Andrew Kooi picked up the ball and returned it to the Quincy 21. On second-and-5 from the 16, on this wind-crazed day, Brozovich lofted a pass to the end zone that seemed to suspend in the air. Dan Fox (3 catches, 59 yards) managed to stay with it and catch it in traffic for a 14-7 lead and the eventual decisive touchdown.

"Oh, God, don't ask me about that," Brozovich said of his TD toss. "I just threw it up and let Foxy make the play. I think I threw the ball out of bounds and the wind kept carrying it back."

Residori said the block "was my first ever. It was an amazing feeling. We ran a twist and I went through untouched.

"With it being tied at that time, it gave us momentum. Then we blocked another one and got up two scores, and we felt like we had the game."

Hamilton's block came on Quincy's next possession. He also picked the ball up and returned it from the Blue Devils' 12 to the 3.

"It was a broken play in the line," Hamilton said. "I first was lined up across from the tight end. I don't know where the tackle and guard went, but I went straight in. The ball hit me in the face.

"I tried to pick it up and score, but I guess I was a little tired and slow."

The score came soon enough, however, Kalvin Hill taking it in from the 2.

Residori and Parker Parzych then combined on a sack and forced fumble, which Walker Vesper recovered. Minooka took the ball 43 yards to the final touchdown, including a 25-yard pass from Mitch to Max Brozovich.

All in all, a rewarding day for assistant coach Paige Schoolman's punt block team, and for the Minooka defense, was in the books.

"Coach Schoolman had solid schemes and the kids executed on the punts," Minooka coach Bert Kooi said. "This is the fourth week in a row where we have found a way to win. This week it was special teams, the punt block."

But the defense also merits kudos. The four-man defensive front featured Jake DeGraaf, Zach Colvin, Vesper, Hamilton, Residori and Chris Evans in different arrangements. Linebackers Kooi, Daylon Baycot and Parker Parzych came up big, ditto the secondary of corners Blake Montella and Doug Sachtleben and safeties James Salahuddin and Lucas Carey.

"Our two inside linebackers (Kooi and Baycot) did a great job reading their keys," Bert Kooi said. "They played really well, and Carey came up and gave us great run support. Plus, the guys up front did a good job getting into their backfield."

Parzych, a beast in the second half especially, had 2 tackles for loss and joined Residori for the sack where they forced a fumble. Vesper had a sack, Residori added another tackle for loss. Hamilton had 2, DeGraaf 2 (including a sack) and Kooi, Colvin and Sachtleben 1 each.

So on a day when the high-powered Minooka offense was limited to 253 total yards, the special teams and defense were there to take the oars.

And now, meeting No. 2 at Plainfield South is on. The game likely will be played at 7 p.m. Friday.

"Our kids have not forgotten losing that one up there (41-31)," Bert Kooi said. "But that was the first spread team we saw. We played Romeoville and Oswego after that, three in a row, and now I think it's a little easier for our kids to play against it."

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