Late comeback pushes Althoff football team into quarterfinal round of IHSA postseason
Althoff came together in clutch time to stride to a 26-14 win against Red Bud in the second round of the IHSA Class 2A postseason Saturday afternoon.
Althoff advances to the quarterfinals and will will face either No. 2 seed Johnston City (10-0) or No. 10 seed Arthur Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (8-2). The Crusaders are now 7-4.
“We got off to a rocky start to the (regular) season, but playoffs is a new season,” Althoff’s Jordan Lewis said. “We’re 2-0.”
Red Bud, meanwhile, finished at 8-3.
“It was a matter of making a play, one team made the play and they’re advancing into the next round,” Muskteers coach Dave Lucht said.
Both teams got off to a rocky start, going scoreless in the first quarter.
With 8:20 left in the second quarter, Althoff broke through on a botched punt by the Musketeers to go up 7-0.
Althoff’s defense later made a big stop on fourth down to give the offense the ball at Red Bud’s 40-yard line. Running back Malik Nave led the Crusaders on the ensuing drive with 22 yards on the ground putting them in good field goal position. Althoff extended the led to 10-0 on Tyler Schmieder’s field goal with 2:08 left in the second quarter.
After a fumble late in the first half, the Crusaders’ defense stopped the Musketeers from scoring in the red zone.
Linebacker Andrew Luke recovered a blocked punt at the 15-yard line in the third quarter. Althoff took advantage and surged ahead 13-0 on Schmieder’s 22-yard field goal with 5:10 left in the quarter.
Red Bud, however, charged back. With 6:47 left in the game junior Sam Easter notched a 50-yard pick six to cut the lead to 13-7.
Red Bud took its first lead at 14-13 with 5:18 left remaining after linebacker Lucas Schwartzkopf returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Malik Nave recovered from the two mistakes and threw a 28-yard touchdown to Lewis with 3:21 left for a 19-14 advantage.
Lewis came back on the defensive side and posted a pick six with 21 seconds left to end the game.
All in all, the Crusaders have shown they’re more than a 14 seed with their clutch wins against 3 seed Shelbyville in the opening around and Saturday against No. 6 seed Red Bud.
“I have nothing but confidence in those clutch moments because we have shown that we can do it,” Althoff coach Austin Frazier said.
J’Vonta Mosby and Christopher Jenkins led the Crusaders on defense with 2.5 sacks a piece. As a whole, the Crusaders’ defense did not allow an offensive touchdown all game.
“I just wanted to be there for my team and advance into next round,” defensive end Mosby said.
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 6:14 PM.