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Andrean claims share of its first NCC title
Updated: October 8, 2011 3:28PM
MERRILLVILLE — Wouldn’t you know it? Griffith coach Russ Radtke exited the Andrean field after what appeared to be an animated conversation with the officials before running off with his team to the bus.
Shortly thereafter, an Andrean student with a black wig on stuck a huge “A” in the center of the field with a loud grunt amid a swarming stew of 59ers fans that were overwhelmed with joy. This was Andrean’s night, but just barely.
It was just another intense, over-the-top wacky game in the long-running Andrean-Griffith series.
The 59ers scored the victory — a 20-13 thriller — that could be bought immediately on DVD for $10 for exiting students and fans after the completion of the game. Some things are priceless.
Asked what makes this game so crazy, Andrean coach Phil Mason said: “I don’t know. I don’t know. It happened long before I got here.”
The win was not only priceless, but historic for the 59ers. They won a share of the Northwest Crossroads Conference — a first for the program. They can win it outright with a victory at Lowell next week.
“It feels fantastic,” said Mason Zurek, who rushed 28 times for 163 yards.
Zurek’s 2-yard touchdown dive with 11:23 left tied the game at 13-13. The five-play, 80-yard drive, highlighted by a 50-yard run by Zurek, ended a nervous quarter-plus of football for the 59ers.
The game appeared to veer the wrong way for Andrean when Griffith scored its second touchdown on a 6-yard run by Brett Brinkley with 3:32 left in the half. The TD was set up by an Austin Brown interception after he grabbed a deflected Matt DeSomer pass at the 30. That gave Griffith a 13-6 lead.
The Panthers almost made it a two-touchdown lead when they opened the second half with a 15-play drive that took them all the way down to the 2. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Griffith decided to go for it, but they were called for illegal procedure — one of 11 penalties it had for 75 yards. That might’ve had something to do with why Radtke was talking to the officials after the game.
Griffith decided to go for a field goal instead and missed.
The final touchdown was basically set up by another Griffith penalty. The Panthers’ 51-yard punt, which put the ball at around the 30, was called back because of procedure penalty.
Andrean fielded the second punt cleanly and Rick Johnston took it down to Griffith’s 30. Johnston scored six plays later with 4:23 left, giving Andrean a 20-13 advantage.
Griffith looked like it was going to tie it when Troy Yarnelle ran 55 yards all the way down to the 18 on the first carry. The Panthers got to the 8 before Kyle Lesch intercepted a pass and put the game out of reach.
None of it was easy for Andrean, which is how it always seems to be in this game.
“I have to give their kids a lot of credit,” Mason said. “They have a lot of pride. We don’t have any Griffith kids. They stay in their community and they play hard.”
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