Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

O'Fallon pulls shocker in football playoffs while Mater Dei beats Freeburg; Edwardsville, Triad lose in soccer

O'Fallon pulled a shocker in the second round of the Class 7A state football playoffs Friday, stunning Chicago area heavyweight Lincoln-Way East 17-16 to reach the quarterfinals.

O'Fallon improved to 8-3, while Lincoln-Way East finished its season 9-2.

O'Fallon took a 3-0 lead in first half on a 35-yard field goal by Kurt Rosenbaum. Lincoln-Way East answered with a touchdown run by Kevin Starke to take a 7-3 lead, but the Panthers fought back.

O'Fallon's B.J. Hendrix intercepted a pass from quarterback Ryne Van Gennep and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown with 9:05 remaining in the first half as the Panthers went up 10-7.

That was one of five turnovers by the Griffins.

O'Fallon's David McDaniel picked up a Lincoln-Way East fumble and a 29-yard run by Panthers back Erin Lewis moved the ball to the 4.

B.J. Hendrix scored with 7:56 left in the second quarter as O'Fallon's lead grew to 17-7.

A blocked punt helped cut Lincoln-Way east's deficit as Matt Hartmann scored on a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-14.

The Griffins were driving late and had a touchdown pass to Hartmann on third-and-goal at the O'Fallon 5 wiped out on an illegal man downfield penalty.

With a chance to tie the game, Lincoln-Way East kicker Kyle Moore was wide right on a 27-yard field goal attempt. From there, O'Fallon ran out the clock and took a late safety that gave the Griffins their final points.

Mater Dei 35, Freeburg 14

Mater Dei quarterback Tyler Detmer ran for 184 yards and two TDs on 17 carries and also threw for 102 yards and another touchdown, leading the Knights (10-1) past Freeburg (7-4) in a Class 4A second-round game.

Freeburg quarterback Alex Fricke was 11-for-31 for 122 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception.

Boys Soccer

* Edwardsville lost its semifinal game at the Class 3A State Tournament 2-0 to Lake Zurich.

Trailing 1-0, Edwardsville had a goal disallowed at 55:21 on an offsides call. Edwardsville's Trevor Bickhaus and assistant coach Randy Chapman each were issued yellow cards following the controversial play.

The Tigers (18-4-4) will face New Trier for third place at 5 p.m. today at North Central College in Naperville.

* Triad's first trip to the Class 2A boys state soccer tournament left a bad impression as the Knights lost 5-0 to St. Viator from Arlington Heights. Triad (22-5-1) was outshot 14-2, with both shots coming from Gus Wagner.

Triad plays Freeport, a 6-0 loser to Peoria Notre Dame, in the third place game at 11 a.m. today at North Central College in Naperville.

For more prep sports coverage, see Saturday's News-Democrat or visit www.bnd.com.