Oswego squanders big second-half lead

Updated: August 27, 2011 2:40AM

Ed Brucker has been coaching football for more than 40 years, and he’s never seen something quite like what his Marian Central Catholic squad pulled off Friday night.

The Hurricanes battled back from a 23-point deficit midway through the third quarter to stun highly-regarded Oswego by scoring the game’s final 29 points for a 47-41 victory at Ken Pickerill Field.

“To be down 23 points with five minutes left in the third quarter and to come back and win — that shows a lot of guts,” Brucker said.

The Hurricanes, who compete in Class 5A, did it by forcing the bigger and stronger Panthers to commit two fourth-quarter turnovers. It also helped that the Marian Central defense not only took the ball away, but it also finally figured out a way to slow the high-powered Oswego offense by making it punt twice.

“We forced some turnovers near the end and started to get some stops,” Brucker said. “It was the same defense we used earlier in the game and we got beat. (Football) is a strange game.”

Offensively, the Hurricanes rode the poise and savvy play of junior quarterback Chris Streveler, who accounted for six touchdowns — two rushing and four passing. Streveler completed 20 of 42 passes for 174 yards and he had 21 rushes for 151 yards.

“We just kept believing in each other,” Streveler said. “We believed in our teammates and we just kept fighting and coming back. We thought we could win the game the whole time and it ended up paying off.”

When Oswego senior quarterback Ryan West tossed his fifth touchdown pass of the night — this one to Elliot McGaughey — and after Freddy Miller added the extra point, the Panthers had what appeared to be a comfortable 41-18 lead with 5:02 left in the third quarter.

Marian Central responded with a four-minute drive that Streveler capped off with a 1-yard sneak on fourth-and-goal on the last play of the third quarter. A two-point conversion made it 41-26.

Streveler found receiver Kyle Thompson twice in the fourth quarter for scores with the winning connection coming with 1:13 left.

Oswego began its final drive at its own 38 with 1:06 left, but the Panthers couldn’t move past the Marian Central 44 as Oswego was turned away on downs.

Streveler took three knees as the Hurricanes ran out the clock and began a wild celebration.

Marian Central ruined what had been a spectacular night for West, who completed 25 of 41 passes for 433 yards with five touchdowns.

“When you score 41 points — that is an awful lot of points to score in a high school football game and not come away with a win,” Oswego coach Dave Keely said. “We have a lot of room for improvement. I don’t care how much (West) throws the ball because if we don’t win the game, it is not good enough.”

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