Green Wave still searching for first playoff win

MENDOTA — Armed only with a defense and passing attack, St. Edward hung tough as long as possible against Mendota in Saturday's Class 4A state playoff game.

Then the Green Wave's fading chances for the school's first postseason football victory completely vanished when running back Kurtis Knapp broke a counter off right tackle for a clinching 60-yard fourth-quarter touchdown in Mendota's 27-13 victory.

"I thought our defense did a great job to keep us in a one-point game in the first half with all the situations we put them in," Green Wave coach Mike Rolando said. "We really couldn't have played any worse in the first half.

"We got put into a must-pass situation and got taken out of our game there. Then their running game really got some traction there in the second half and busted a couple big plays. But our defense played great."

St. Edward (6-4) trailed just 14-13 at halftime after Ben Lehman capped off a perfect two-minute drill with a 3-yard TD pass to Sam Pozezinski in the back of the end zone, but the extra point proved an omen for the second half when Jim Cholewa's boot barely got head high.

"Too many bad breaks in bad situations," Rolando said. "The missed extra point hurt. Anything that could go wrong — a blown pass coverage — went wrong for us and we were just fortunate to be in that game in the second half.

"Then their big guys really took over in the second half."

Mendota rushed for 139 of its 201 yards in the second half, including Knapp's 20-yard TD on a counter play right only four seconds into the fourth quarter that provided a 21-13 edge. Knapp finished with 123 yards on 19 carries, including three TDs.

The Trojans defense fiercely protected that eight-point advantage until Knapp broke a run on a play similar to his 20-yarder, behind the block of 6-foot-5, 285-pound tackle Nick Green for the 60-yard TD that iced the win with 3:12 left in the game.

"He's a big dude," St. Edward senior linebacker Nathan Gaige said about Green. "And (Knapp) was a hard runner who didn't go down easy. None of them did.

"They were a very good team. I think we bottled it up pretty good except for a couple plays when (Knapp) got through."

St. Edward's defense gave up one score which irked Rolando and actually helped account for the winning points. Down 7-6 after St. Edward's David Hoebbel caught a 46-yard TD pass from Lehman and Cholewa made the conversion kick, Mendota went to a rare pass on first down from its own 23.

Travis Martinson got behind Pozezinski downfield and caught a high-arcing pass from quarterback Jordan Fritz, then ran to the end zone for a 77-yard score. The two-point conversion run by Knapp provided the decisive points and a 14-7 lead.

"They threw up a floater, kind of a wounded duck that we blew the coverage on," Rolando said. "The guy kind of waited on it, it was almost like catching a punt, and he ran it in."

A surprise play had set up Mendota's first score. Martinson caught a 44-yard pass on a fake punt on Mendota's first possession, leading to Knapp's 1-yard, third-and-goal TD plunge.

St. Edward had its passing game to counter with, but not much else as Mendota's defense held the Green Wave to 25 rushing yards on 25 attempts.

"It's always tough going through a season where we had such a balance of running and passing and they came in and were ready for the run," Lehman said. "They had some good coverage on the passes, so it was tough to get some points on the board today."

Lehman finished 15 of 26 for 184 yards, including 10 for 109 yards to 6-foot-7 senior Zack Von Ahnen. But without a running attack to worry about, Mendota (8-2) came after Lehman and held him to 68 yards throwing in the second half.

Without starting offensive linemen Derek Porto and Zach Trisilla due to injuries, the Green Wave (6-4) had trouble protecting Lehman once Mendota went up eight points.

"We played a great season," Lehman said. "We came in here, nobody expected us to win six games and make the playoffs. It's tough now, but we had a great season with lots to be proud of."

St. Edward was making its first playoff appearance since 2003. The Green Wave is 0-3 in program postseason history.

"We did take another step, and it was good getting these juniors out here on the field, these sophomores, too, so they know what playoff football is about," Rolando said.

MENDOTA 27, ST. EDWARD 13

St. Edward    0   13   0    0   --   13

Mendota        6    8    0   13  --   27

M -- Kurtis Knapp 1 run (pass failed) 7:39, 1st

S -- David Hoebbel 46 pass from Ben Lehman (Jim Cholewa kick) 7:39, 2nd

M -- Travis Martinson 77 pass from Jordan Fritz (Knapp run) 2:05, 2nd

S -- Sam Pozezinski 3 pass from Lehman (kick failed) :02, 2nd

M -- Knapp 20 run (Fritz kick) 11:56, 4th

M -- Knapp 60 run (kick failed) 3:12, 4th

                                         S               M

First downs                      13               12

Rushing-yards                25-25         44-201

Passing                         16-27-1        3-5-0

Passing yards                  199              127

Total yards                      224              328

Fumbles-lost                    2-1              1-1

Penalties                         4-40             1-4

Punts                             5-37.6          3-31.3

Individual statistics

Rushing

St. Edward: Jordan Torres 7-8, Hoebbel 11-46, Jon Godfrey 1-2, Lehman 6-(minus)31.

Mendota: Knapp 19-123, Alex Caruso 13-52, Martinson 4-(minus)2, Robert Watson 7-21, Fritz 1-7.

Passing

St. Edward: Lehman 15-26-1-184, Pozezinski 1-1-0-15.

Mendota: Fritz 2-4-0-83, Knapp 1-1-0-44.

Receiving

St. Edward: Zack Von Ahnen 10-109, Pozezinski 3-32, Hoebbel 3-58.