Late score leads Sandburg

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:12PM

Late in the third quarter Friday, Sandburg running back Jermell Harris was limping off the field after taking a helmet to his shin. Late in the fourth quarter, the junior was dashing down the middle of the field for the game-winning run.

Harris' 45-yard jaunt to pay dirt with 4:52 left lifted the seventh-seeded Eagles to a 24-20 Class 8A first round win over No. 10 seed Proviso West in Orland Park.

Sandburg (8-2) will go on the road to take on Lyons in the second round.

"It was a hard hit, but the trainers taped it up and put a pad on it," Harris said. "I couldn't quit. It's playoff time. My teammates came over to me and said they believed in me. We all did this together."

On the game-winner, Harris (11 carries, 87 yards, two TDs) swept to the outside then found a hole up the middle.

"I heard a voice in my head telling me what we always practice, ‘Make that cut,'" he said.

Proviso West (6-4) nearly answered, getting down to the Sandburg 19-yard line in the final minute before Marty Flynn and Zach Laud combined on a sack of Malik Thurman on fourth and four to wrap it up.

It was the final piece of a great recovery for the Eagles defense. After Thurman ran for 96 yards in the first half, he was held to negative yards in the second and sacked three times.

"The kids knew the mistakes they made and knew they had to make adjustments," Sandburg coach Dave Wierzal said. "The defense stepped up and Jermell, he's like lightning."

Down 20-10 at the half after Thurman (80 yards rushing, 66 yards passing) dashed for a 40-yard touchdown on fourth and two with 22 seconds left in the half, Wierzal called for an onside kick to start the third.

Matt Strzelczyk recovered for Sandburg and Harris cashed in with a one-yard TD run.

"At halftime after that run, the momentum they had, you could feel it," Wierzal said. "We were like ‘What are we going to do now?"

Taylor Zalewski booted a 47-yard field goal for the Eagles, who also got strong contributions from Chris Lopez (10 carries, 70 yards) and Tres Oliver (four carries, 46 yards; three catches, 56 yards).

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