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Lakes edges Rolling Meadows 38-35
#14 Andrew Spencer, of Lakes, on his way for a TD vs. Rolling Meadows as he returns a kick Friday night.
| Joe Shuman~Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 28, 2011 11:54PM
Direll Clark scored on a 9-yard run with 42 seconds left to give host Lakes a 38-35 victory over visiting Rolling Meadows on Friday in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.
The Eagles (8-2) will play at Grant (7-3) in the second round.
Clark’s run capped a 73-yard drive that started after Rolling Meadows took a 35-31 lead on a 21-yard TD pass from Jack Milas to Austin Reed with 1:54 left.
Lakes had taken a 31-28 lead on a 10-yard TD run by Clark with 5:17 left.
Lakes led 24-14 at halftime, but Rolling Meadows got back-to-back TD passes from Milas (30-for-44, 415 yards, 4 TDs, 0 picks) to take the lead.
For Lakes, Clark rushed 41 times for 280 yards and 2 TDs.
The game-winning drive started with a double-reverse tight-end pass from John Gomulka to Justin Bergeron. The play covered 50 yards and set up the Eagles at the Mustang 23.
Five plays later, Clark was in the end zone and Lakes was in Round 2 of the playoffs.
In the final 40 seconds, Milas got his team to midfield, but a Hail Mary was knocked down around the 15 as time expired.
“It feels great to win,” said Clark, who has been running under the radar for much of the season. “The offensive line did a great job blocking and creating holes tonight. We just kept pounding the ball and they couldn’t stop us.”
Lakes has now eight games in a season for the first time in the school’s short history.
Coach Luke Mertens, whose been with the Eagles every step of the way, was thrilled with the way his team didn’t fold under pressure.
“This is what playoff football is all about,” he said. “This was a great win for the team and for the program.
“Direll had a huge game tonight. Our offensive line did a great job.”
The win might not have happened if not for the extraordinary trick play that wound up featuring tight-end Gomulka.
“That was the time we ran that play this year,” said Mertens. “It worked out for us today.”
Lakes and Grant met back in September, and the Eagles prevailed.
“Grant next week is a good game. We’re two teams that like to run the ball,” Mertens said. “It should be a good game.”
Lakes has never won a second-round game in the playoffs.
Yet.
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