↓ TRIPLE CROWN IN THE TVC-WEST

By: Matthew A. Anderson

St. Charles saved their best for the last game of conference play as they knocked off previously unbeaten Ithaca 42-28. Both now will share the Tri-Valley West title with Carrollton, who defeated St. Louis.

Just two weeks ago, St. Charles's title hopes and dreams were put on life support. After a 31-6 loss to Carrollton, their dreams of an undefeated season were dashed and their quest for a Tri-Valley West championship took a huge hit. They did have one thing left in their favor however. They still played Ithaca, who defeated Carrollton, thus giving the Bulldogs control of their own destiny. A win against Ithaca on Friday night and St. Charles would wrap up a share for the TVC-West title. From the get go, it didn't look good. St. Charles got the ball first but the offense never saw the ball as the Bulldogs fumbled the opening kickoff. Darin Wideman recovered the fumble for Ithaca and they took over at the STC 18. In this case the returner lost the ball due to fighting for yardage. He gave a great second and third effort but was stripped in the process. The extra effort would become a reacurring theme as the game progressed. More on that later. The Bulldog defense forced 2 3rd downs on the short drive but with 8:46 to go in the opening quarter, Alex Niznak, the Yellowjacket QB, took the ball himself around right end for the 4 yard score and it was 7-0 early.

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St. Charles instead of thinking about their mistake leading to a quick 7 by Ithaca, they sucked it up and went to work. After 2 big runs by Tyler Larsen and Travis Crane, the Bulldogs had the ball at the Ithaca 12. Crane's run was 51 yards straight up the gut. 4 plays later, Larsen took the ball around Right Tackle and punched it in from 2 yards out. Crane added the extra point and it was tied at 7.

On Ithaca's next possession, the Yellowjackets managed to get down inside of the STC's 35 but couldn't get any further and had to punt it away. St. Charles's next drive started at the end of the 1st quarter and continued on to start the 2nd. After a few run plays, Larsen racked up 22 yards on another, this one to the Ithaca 39. Facing 3rd and 4 at the 33, Dugan Roosa had one of the best carries you will see all year. He was wrapped up short of the first down but broke through and kept getting hit by waves of defenders but would not be brought down as he dragged defenders down to the 10 yard line, setting up first and goal. On the very next play, Larsen took the ball 10 yards in for the score, giving STC their first lead of the game. Just over 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter, the Bulldogs led 14-7.

Less than 2 minutes later, Ithaca answered. On 3rd and 7 from the St. Charles 35, Niznak hit his favorite target, Christian Marble on a middle wide receiver screen and Marble did the rest racing for the 35 yard score. After the extra point, it was tied up again, this time at 14.

It looked as if this is how the rest of the game would play out. Both offenses were going to control momentum and tempo and the team that played the best defense down the stretch and bend but not break, was going to ultimately control the game. St. Charles's defense did not break for the rest of the half. St. Charles continued to pound the ball and use their great collection of Backs to do it. On this drive Larsen and Tyler Nieman were eating up big chunks of yards. It was Roosa that finished the job though, from 9 yards out, just under the 5 minute mark in the half. The point after made it 21-14.

With a few minutes left before halftime, the Bulldogs held their ground on defense and forced Ithaca to punt. The problem was, that it was a great bouncing punt and on top of that, the Bulldogs were flagged for holding, sending them back to their own 8 to start the drive. Several big runs by Crane and Larsen got them out of harms way and outside of the 20, picking up a first down. On 2nd and 6, Nieman took the handoff and tried to go left. It looked as if he was corralled and was going to be brought down for a loss. He stayed patient however and kept moving left, waiting for a block or 2 to develop ahead of him. Nieman saw his crease and then took off, weaving in and out of defenders. 75 yards later, he was in the endzone and St. Charles was up two touchdowns.

Ithaca still had over 90 seconds to play with and after a great return, the Yellowjackets were in business. They moved the ball in a hurry all the way down to the STC 15, converting on several big plays and a third down. On first down and 10 from the St. Charles 15 and 32 seconds remaining before halftime, Niznak tried to go with the middle screen again to Marble. This time it was read beautifully by Larsen on defense, who jumped the route and in front of Marble, picking it off and ending the drive. A 92 yard drive and the interception to finish the half gave St. Charles almost all of the momentum going into the break. The 2nd half would put everyone back on their heels, however.

Ithaca got the ball to start the 2nd half but went three and out and for the first time, STC sacked Niznak. They had pressured him all night but could not bring him down for a loss. Jake McSweyn and Tim Santino came up with the huge play that cost the Yellowjackets 10 yards back the other way. The next drive for STC would be 1 of 2 defining drives that when they look back at this game, will have ultimately won this team a share of the championship. The Bulldogs started with good field position but quickly found themselves facing a 4th and 2 at about their own 47. The Bulldogs gambled and went for it. A hard fought carry by Crane up the middle, netted the first down, just a length of the football past the sticks. 2 plays later, it was 3rd and 9. Larsen took the hand-off, was stopped 5 yards short of the first down but kept his legs moving. Larsen somehow managed to break free and then broke another tackle before carrying a defender to the Ithaca 37, a pickup of 13 tough yards. 2 plays after that and 32 yards later, Nieman used his speed again to take the carry of the middle, find a seam and then beat everybody to the endzone for 6. Nieman's 32 yard score put the Bulldogs up 3 scores but missed the extra point. It was 34-14 but there was still plenty of time left for the high powered Yellowjackets. One of the big questions now, was, would the blocked extra point be the ultimate difference near the end of the game?

Almost. With 6:30 remaining in the third quarter, Ithaca fought back and in a hurry. On the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Niznak took the QB draw up the left side 63 yards for the score. And just like that, the lead was down to 13. St. Charles answered with a huge drive by pounding the ball down the field, all the way down to the Ithaca 20, where they faced 3rd and 4. Something then came up that I was thinking about the whole game. St. Charles goes from shotgun on every play because of the Single Wing formation but had yet to have any problems with the snap. It came up at one of the worst possible moments. The snap was fumbled and they went from 3rd and 4 to 4th and 21 to end the 3rd quarter. On the first play of the 4th, they tried to sneak a draw up the middle but Ithaca wasn't having it and got the ball back on downs at their own 35, with 11:54 to go in the game.

On 3rd and 10 and just over a minute after getting the ball back, the Yellowjackets struck again. This time it was on a Niznak to David Brown hook-up for 65 yards. Brown ran a slant and was hit in stride, turned the ball up-field and just kept going til he scored. Now the blocked extra point was looking bigger than ever after Ithaca hit theirs and got to within 6 at 34-28.

Then came the 2nd huge drive of the game for STC and most likely the biggest drive of the season so far. Two first down runs later by Roosa and Mike Spannagel moved the ball down to the Ithaca 44. Two plays later, it was 3rd and 8. It was Larsen's turn in the rotation to make another huge run. Larsen took the hand-off and busted it off to the right sideline, danced in between defenders and along the sideline and didn't go down til he was at the Ithaca 16 with 7:57 remaining in the game. 2 plays later, on third and 2, Roosa took the ball on the Counter, straight up the gut and bowled his way to the Yellowjacket 2 yard line, first and goal. Larsen then finished the drive from 2 yards out, scoring on the run. Immediately after scoring, Coach Brady Lake signaled to go for 2. On the 2 point attempt, Larsen took the snap and then rolled right as he looked to pass. Just as he was about to run out of real estate he threw the ball back across the field and in the back of the endzone to a wide open Zac Henninger, who hauled in the pass and pushed the lead to 14 at 42-28.

With 6:04 to go, Ithaca still had plenty of time to catch up because of their high powered, score quick offense. St. Charles then started to bend on defense but luckily for the home fans, they didn't break. The first defensive stand came when Niznak threw it to Marble. Marble however was converged upon by 2 defenders at the same exact time, who jarred the ball loose and into the air. A roving Kyle Morel came from nowhere and snapped the ball out of the air and took it back the other way down to the Ithaca 34. St. Charles moved it down to the Ithaca 9 but were forced into a fourth down. The Bulldogs elected to go for the 26 yard field goal to ice the game but it was blocked, leaving a tiny glimmer of hope for an Ithaca comeback with 3:13 left in the game.

On 2nd down, Niznak took the snap evaded pressure and managed to get the ball away with a Bulldog defender draped on his leg, unfortunately for Ithaca, the ball was picked off in the middle of the field by Zac Henninger. Two first downs later, the Bulldogs were just 2 snaps away from running out the clock and grabbing a share of the Tri-Valley West title. As the final seconds ticked off, the emotion on the St. Charles sideline was the complete opposite of what I saw a year ago around this same time when Carrollton was in town and defeated St. Charles for the conference title. This time it was St. Charles that was doing the celebrating but Ithaca should not hang their heads. They ran into a Bulldog team that was on a mission and played their best game of the year and did just enough to trip up one of the most explosive offenses in the state.

These 2 will most likely fall into Division 6 for the playoffs but probably won't end up in the same District as they did in 2006. They could see each other down the road again but some things would have to fall into place. Either way, these are 2 strong clubs and should do some damage in the 2nd season. Ithaca faces rival Shepherd next week in the final regular season game, while St. Charles will host rival Hemlock.

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