Sabres top Chargers in final minute
Holloway scores game-winning TD
CARPENTERSVILLE Streamwood's offense came to life just in time Friday night.
After coming up empty for much of the second half, the Sabres delivered in the game's final minutes as senior Wayne Holloway scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 15 seconds left to lift Streamwood to a thrilling 28-27 victory at Dundee-Crown.
(Andrew A. Nelles/For The Courier-News)
• Complete coverage: High School Football
Holloway's second touchdown run of the night capped an improbable 12-play, 66-yard drive that was highlighted by a stellar display by sophomore quarterback Dalton Lundeen.
Making only his second varsity start, Lundeen completed 5 of 9 passes during his team's final possession. Lundeen had only five completions prior to the drive as the Sabres were held to two first downs and 72 yards in the second half leading up to the late rally.
"Everything just clicked on our last drive," Lundeen said. "We got down in the fourth quarter and I thought we were done with about 10 minutes left. But that's why you fight the whole way."
Lundeen's late heroics stole the show from Chargers junior Tanner Kotlan, who in his second varsity start at quarterback completed 17 of 26 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Kotlan also ran for a touchdown.
Streamwood's comeback denied Dundee-Crown its first 2-0 start since 2002. The Sabres improve to 1-1 with the win, matching their win total from each of coach Cal Cummins' first three seasons leading the program.
Streamwood played much of the second half without senior standout Derrick King, who ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries in the first half. King left the game for good after sustaining a vicious hit on his first carry of the second half, leaving Holloway as the only healthy member of a running back corps depleted by injury.
"We felt that one of the things different about this group is its ability to face adversity and rise up," Cummins said. "The bottom line is we kept throwing kids in and they kept rising to the occasion. What do you say about a great effort from a group of young men?"
D-C pulled ahead 27-21 with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter when Kotlan connected with junior Steve Schwartz on a fourth-and-1 play for a 30-yard touchdown pass. After the teams traded thee straight three-and-out possessions, the Chargers had a chance to put the game away but turned the ball over on downs at the Streamwood 34-yard line with 2:20 left.
That set up Streamwood's game-winning drive, which was aided by a 15-yard penalty against D-C for a late hit out of bounds after Lundeen found Matt Woods for a 10-yard completion on third-and-6 from the D-C 40.
The Sabres converted on third-and-6 again later in the drive when Lundeen took off on a 10-yard keeper around the left side before being knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line with 22 seconds left. Two plays later Holloway capped his 21-carry, 150-yard night with the winning touchdown.
"The team said they trusted me with the ball," Holloway said. "I just tried my hardest. I wanted to get in there and do it for the team."
Streamwood finished with 217 rushing yards on 45 carries. Lundeen was 10-for-20 through the air for 76 yards.
Schwartz finished with three receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers. D-C also had a 58-yard touchdown run from junior Danny Sharp on its first play from scrimmage and finished the night with 424 total yards, but that didn't prove to be enough.
"(Streamwood) executed, that's all you can say about it," D-C coach Mike Davis said. "We had a couple chances but just didn't execute when we needed to."
STREAMWOOD 28, DUNDEE-CROWN 27
Streamwood 7 7 7 7 -- 28
Dundee-Crown 14 7 0 6 -- 27
SWOOD King 5 run (Banda kick), 7:06
DC Sharp 58 run (kick failed), 6:44
DC Kotlan 6 run (Sharp run), 10:40
SWOOD King 1 run (Banda kick), 4:19
DC Schwartz 73 pass from Kotlan (Steele kick), 3:57
SWOOD Holloway 57 run (Banda kick), 7:55
DC Schwartz 30 pass from Kotlan (kick failed), 10:36
SWOOD Holloway 1 run (Banda kick), 0:15
Team Statistics SWOOD D-C
First downs 19 19
Comp.-att.-int. 10-20-0 17-26-0
Passing yards 76 295
Rushing att.-yards 45-217 37-129
Total yards 293 424
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 2-10 7-55
Individual statistics
Rushing:
SWOOD Holloway 21-150, King 15-81, Lundeen 9-(-14)
DC Drozdz 16-65, Sharp 8-59, Freund 1-5, Kotlan 11-5, Schwartz 1-(-5)
Passing:
SWOOD Lundeen 10-20-0 76
DC Kotlan 17-26-0 295
Receiving:
SWOOD Woods 3-37, Pryor 3-16, Sandoval 2-14, Holloway 1-5, King 1-4
DC Schwartz 3-122, Sharp 6-71, Torres 2-33, Thompson 2-28, Clifford 2-27, Bates 1-21, Drozdz 1-(-5).
