Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Panthers pull off a shocker, beat Lincoln-Way East 17-16

Defense paves way for a victory over Lincoln-Way East

O'FALLON -- Another suffocating performance on defense Friday catapulted the O'Fallon Panthers into the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs.

O'Fallon forced five turnovers by (Frankfort) Lincoln-Way East -- one resulting in a touchdown, another leading to one -- and was the beneficiary of two key breaks in the final two minutes of a 17-16 victory over the Griffins.

"We've got a great coaching staff," said senior running back and safety B.J. Hendrix, who had a 67-yard interception return for a TD and a fumble recovery. "Coach (Keith) Albers really has the defense on lock. We prepare every week for the game coming up, so whenever it comes game time, it's nothing for us to come out here and perform."

The 16 points scored by the Griffins (9-2) were a season-low. They had scored at least 24 points in each of their first 10 games.

Lincoln-Way East coach Ron Zvonar already knew the Panthers' defense was good, and his eyes didn't betray him during the game.

"They've got a tough, physical defense," Zvonar said. "We saw them all year on film, especially last week at Lincoln-Way Central, flying around and knocking people around. Great coverage. Their defensive backs are excellent.

"But then also, we were uncharacteristic. We hadn't had that number of turnovers in a single game all year. We came in here on the road and had five in the second round of the playoffs. That's probably the result you're going to get at this time of the year, in week 11."

O'Fallon shut out Lincoln-Way Central 16-0 in the first round last Friday, with both its touchdowns coming from its defense.

The Panthers will play Minooka or East St. Louis in the quarterfinals next week. Minooka and the Flyers will meet at 3 p.m. today in East St. Louis. If the Flyers win, O'Fallon will play them in O'Fallon next week. A win by Minooka will send O'Fallon on the road.

"They're a great football team," O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst said of Lincoln-Way East. "We did enough to win. Our defense made some outstanding plays and held up. They hadn't scored less than 24 points all year. That being said, to hold them down to 14 and the safety we gave up at the end, what more can you say? They were tremendous. Coach Albers did a great job."

Trailing 17-14 late in the fourth quarter, Lincoln-Way East drove from their 41-yard line to the Panthers' 25 on a 34-yard run pass play from senior quarterback Ryne Van Gennep to junior Max Bayer.

Two plays later, junior Dean DalSanto --playing for the injured Kevin Starke --had a 4-yard run for a first down that included a facemask penalty on the Panthers, giving the Griffins possession on the O'Fallon 8.

On a third-and-goal play, Van Gennep rolled to his right and found senior Matt Hartmann open for an apparent 5-yard TD pass. But officials flagged Lincoln-Way East for having an ineligible man downfield.

"On your center," Zvonar said. "I'm not sure how your center does that. On a pass play, your center snaps the ball and protects the gap. I'm not sure how he's downfield. But you know what? They called it, so it must have been true."

O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst breathed a sigh of relief after the call.

"That was maybe the ballgame, right?" he said. "When I saw that flag come out, it was like it came out of the heavens."

The Griffins wound up attempting a potential game-tying 27-yard field goal with 1:38 to play. Senior Kyle Moore's kick had plenty of height and distance, but it went wide right by the slimmest of margins.

"It was no good," a smiling Hendrix said. "If the goal post goes up a little more, it hits the goal post and comes down, so it was a good call."

After the missed field goal, Lincoln-Way East had just one remaining timeout, which it used after a running play on first down by the Panthers. On fourth down, O'Fallon punter John Bouquet ran the ball into his end zone for a safety that made it 17-16 with 8.1 seconds left.

The Panthers free-kicked the ball to the Griffins, who had time for just one play --a short pass to the right flank that O'Fallon easily stopped.

Junior Kurt Rosenbaum's 35-yard field goal gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

Bouquet's shanked punt gave the Griffins a short field later in the quarter, and Starke's 2-yard run made it 7-3.

Hendrix followed with his 67-yard TD return that made it 10-7 in the second quarter. Hendrix's 4-yard TD run, which came after senior David McDaniel's fumble recovery, made it 17-7 with 7:56 left in the first half. McDaniel also had two interceptions.

The Griffins got within 17-14 early in the fourth quarter on Hartmann's 5-yard TD run, a drive that began on the 15 after senior Ryan Bottoms blocked a punt by Bouquet.