Late score gives North Chicago miraculous win

Updated: September 17, 2011 7:46PM

Fans leaving the stadium at the end of Saturday’s prep football game between host Round Lake and North Chicago could be heard saying they’d never seen a finish like that before.

But actually, if they watched the end of the college football game a week earlier between Michigan and Notre Dame, then they actually had seen a finish like this before.

In that college game, Notre Dame drove the length of the field to score what looked to be the game-winning touchdown with 30 seconds left, only to see Michigan score the real game-winner in the final five seconds.

Saturday at Round Lake, the exact same thing happened.

Round Lake drove 92 yards in 17 plays to take a 17-14 lead with 27 seconds left, only to see North Chicago score on a 43-yard pass play with four seconds left to win 20-14.

It was a wild scene at the end, complete with an overflow Homecoming crowd of energized Round Lake fans going from the thrill of victory to total agony in the span of 20 heart beats.

Round Lake (1-3) has not won two games in a row since 2006, and was coming off a 17-14 win over highly-regarded Wauconda last week. And the Panthers hadn’t won consecutive North Suburban Conference Prairie Divisoin games since 2001 when they beat Vernon Hills 21-13 and Zion-Benton 47-7.

Those marks still stand.

Here’s how the crazy final minutes unfolded.

North Chicago took over on its own 8-yard line following a North Chicago punt with 5:55 remaining and the Hawks leading 14-11.

Star quarterback Anthony Burton (12-for-21, 83 yards passing; 18 carries, 84 yards rushing; and a 27-yard field goal kicking) led the offense to a fourth-and-3 at the North CHicago 13. Round Lake opted to go for it rather than have Burton try a game-tying field goal, and the strategy worked when North Chicago jumped offsieds.

Eventually, Daniel Vega (14 carries, 70 yards, two TDs) scored from the 1 with 27 seconds left for a 17-14 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Round Lake kicked it out of bounds to avoid a North Chicago return, and North Chicago opted to have Round Lake re-kick from the 35. Afraid of a long return, the Panthers went for an onside kick, but the ball bounced off a Round Lake player before it had gone the required 10 yards, and North Chicago took over at the Panther 43 with 25 seconds left.

Quarterback Arnold Shead’s first-down pass was incomplete.

On second down, he was out of the pocket and rolled to his left. Just before reaching the sideline, he hit Nigel Williams with a relatively short pass.

Williams turned up the middle of the field, broke a handful of tackles, and took in to the house with four seconds left.

“They never come easy,” said North Chicago coach Glen Kozlowski. “Arnold made that play happen by running, sucking up the linebackers and flipping it to the open receiver.

“We have a lot of guys who we try to get touches. But at the end of the day, Arnold’s the guy you want with the ball in his hands.”

For the game, Shead, a sophomore, was 5-of-11 passing for 84 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran 26 times for 169 yards and a score.

He also talked about the game-winning play.

“Coach had called me over to the sideline. He said ‘Outside guys run flies; inside guys run deep outs. ‘Keep it if (you don’t see anything) and run out of bounds.’

“I was thinking about running it, but at the last the minute, my man j(Nigel Williams) just jumped out of nowhere and took off for the touchdown. I thought he was down, but he cut up the middle and pulled through for us.”

Shead said the team never stopped believing it could win, even after three bad losses to start the season and Round Lake’s late touchdown on Saturday.

“We said we were going to be a family no matter what, and we were going to fight to the end,” Shead said. “They disrespected us by making us their Homecoming game, and that was something we took to heart when came out here

“We’re talking about winning five games. The season isn’t over yet. We got some work ahead of us, but the goal is to make the playoffs.”

Next up for North Chicago is a game next Friday at Lake Forest (3-1).

Yes, it’s Lake Forest’s Homecoming game.

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