Despite score, Lemont 'D' shines

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CHAMPAIGN -- Going by the numbers, Saturday afternoon's 37-15 loss to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in the Class 6A title game doesn't speak terribly well about the way the Lemont High School defense played.

But sometimes, numbers don't always tell the whole story.

Yes, the Cyclones' point total was more than double the highest previous opponents' output against Lemont this year. But that's to be expected when you play a team like Sacred Heart, which was averaging 42.8 points coming in.

The Lemont defense made its presence felt very early. On the game's first play from scrimmage, Cyclone quarterback Tom Dondanville tried to run up the middle, and was hit by Lemont's Kyle Cummins. Dondanville fumbled, and Connor Nagel was there to recover at the Griffin 30. It brought back memories of the Indians' semifinal win over Antioch, when they recovered four fumbles en route to a 38-14 win.

The Indians capitalized again when Mike Orszulak booted a 23-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

On the next possession, Lemont again played some strong defense. After a false start penalty on first down, Dondanville threw a pair of incompletions as the Indian secondary had his receivers well covered. On 3rd-and-15, though, the lefty hit Dominic Walton near the right sideline. Two Lemont defenders had their hands on Walton, but he broke both tackles and outran the defense for a 72-yard touchdown.

Gotta make the plays.

"They have a great team," Nagel said. "They had a great offensive line, great receivers, great running back and a great quarterback. We struggled a little bit to keep up with them."

At halftime, Lemont trailed 20-9, certainly not an insurmountable deficit.

It looked like it might become insurmountable early in the third quarter.

Wilson intercepted a Nick Lawrence pass at the Lemont 43, but the Indians' defense was up to the challenge. Wilson was stopped for a 2-yard loss by sophomore Josh Ferry, who was in the game due to an injury to Angel Cabral. Griffin got a first down on 3rd-and-12 when Dondanville and John Lantz connected for a 13-yard gain, but the next third-and-long produced a sack by Ferry for a 10-yard loss. Dondanville punted to the Lemont 2, but the Indians had held.

It got even tougher after that when Jake Smith made a diving interception at the Indians' 18. Surely, the high-powered Cyclones would find the end zone and put the game out of reach, right?

Wrong.

A pair of Wilson runs netted just five yards and James Tuscher broke up a pass to Lantz. Springfield's Gus Bloink kicked a 30-yard field goal to put the Cyclones ahead 23-9, but the momentum had turned a bit. If the Indians were to come back and win the game, they would be able to point to the pair of third-quarter stands put up by their defense.

Gotta make the plays.

"I said to coach (defensive coordinator John) Howell, 'Just hold them to a field goal,' "Lemont coach Eric Michaelsen said. "We were able to do that and it kept us in the game."

"We knew we had to go out there and stop them," Nagel said.

After a Lemont punt, Griffin took over at its own 45. On first down from the Lemont 44, Dondanville went deep to Lantz, but Ryan Ferry -- Josh's senior brother -- came down with an interception and returned it 5 yards to the 20.

From there, Lemont embarked on an impressive drive, culminating with Lawrence's 9-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion failed, but the Indians were within a touchdown and 2-point conversion with 9:10 remaining.

Save for a few plays, including Wilson's 64-yard run to the Lemont 5 on the next possession, the Indians did an outstanding job of playing now-you-see-me, now-you-don't with their defenders. They showed blitz with their linebackers, then backed off. They dropped into pass defense, then they rushed the passer.

It was part of the plan.

"We tried to disguise our coverages," Nagel said. "We did a lot of shifting, and then we had to check some calls and shift again. But we did a good job of staying where we were supposed to be. I don't think anyone blew an assignment."

Michaelsen expounded on the strategy.

"Their offense gives you a lot of different looks," he said. "We wanted to disguise what we were doing and take their coaches out of the equation. We saw from the film against Providence that they would wait until they saw what the defense was doing, then make their call from the sideline.

"We wanted to put it more in the kids' hands and make them make decisions and hope they made some mistakes. We did a pretty good job, but you have to tip your hat to Springfield. They executed and made some plays.

"But our defense kept us in it. We had some costly mistakes there in the third quarter and we only gave up a field goal. We got it to a one-touchdown game with 9 minutes left. We get a stop there, and it's a different game. But again, you have to give them credit. They came up with the big play."

There were bright spots. One was the play of Josh Ferry, no stranger to the big stage after playing in the Little League World Series in 2006. He had 2 tackles for losses totaling 12 yards and nearly had another sack.

"Josh is a special athlete," Michaelsen said. "It was nice to see what he could do."

On Wilson's 64-yard run, he was caught from behind by the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Luke Anderson. Later, fellow linebacker Ryan Fejedelem brought the speedy Wilson down from behind on an apparent breakaway run.

" Both of those guys are special kids," Michaelsen said. "Lemont football was important to them. I'm glad they got an opportunity to show what they can do in a state title game."