Five turnovers spell end for LW East

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O'FALLON -- Five turnovers spelled disaster for Lincoln-Way East in a 17-16 loss to O'Fallon in the second round of the 7A playoffs on Friday night.

The victory moves O'Fallon (8-3) on to face East St. Louis or Minooka in next weekend's quarterfinals. Lincoln-Way East (9-2) is eliminated from the second round for the second straight season.

"We're stunned and shocked and, unfortunately, this is going to stay with us for a while," Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. "O'Fallon won the game and did a great job. But we had five turnovers on the road, in the playoffs and you can't expect a different result."

East trailed 17-7 at halftime. Then, the Griffins got back in the game when senior linebacker Ryan Bottoms broke through and blocked a punt by O'Fallon's John Bouquet.

Junior defensive lineman John Seibert recovered at the O'Fallon.

Three plays later, the Griffins faced a fourth-and-1 at the 7. Senior quarterback Ryne Van Gennep ran to 2 yards for a first down at the 5. On the next play, senior running back Matt Hartmann bulldozed into the end zone on a 5-yard scoring run. Kyle Moore's extra point kick pulled the Griffins within 17-14 with 11:30 remaining.

During the drive -- which covered 16 yards in 5 plays -- East lost senior running back Kevin Starke to an injury. He finished with 14 carries for 65 yards. Without him, Hartmann picked up the slack. He rushed for 62 yards on 13 carries.

Following a punt, the Griffins regained possession on their own 31 with 8:52 left. They drove to a fourth-and-inches at the O'Fallon 20.

Hartmann was stopped for no gain.

O'Fallon took over with 5:05 to play. The Panthers went three-and-out as the East defense stiffened -- led by the likes of senior linebacker Ryan Herman, junior defensive lineman DeAndre Slate, senior defensive lineman Austin Copley and senior linebacker Ryan Hickey.

The Griffins took over after a punt on their own 41 and drove to a first-and-goal at the O'Fallon 8. Then, facing a third-and-goal at the 5, Van Gennep rolled to his right and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Hartmann. However, East was whistled for an illegal man downfield. The penalty moved the ball back to the 10.

"I'm not sure how your center does that," Zvonar said. "But O'Fallon made the plays when they needed to."

On third down, Van Gennep looked toward Alex Evans in the left corner of the end zone but misfired on his pass. The ball was too high.

On fourth down, East brought out Moore to attempt a 27-yard game-tying field goal. His kick -- into the wind -- appeared to have snuck inside the right upright. At least that's how some spectators standing behind the goalpost saw it.

However, the official standing under the right goalpost hesitated and then waved no good, wide right. One-minute and 38 seconds remained.

"We thought it was good, too," Zvonar said. "But you have to make enough plays to overcome that."

O'Fallon took over at its 20. East had only one timeout left.

On fourth-and-5 from their own 25, the Panthers' Bouquet turned and ran 35 yards backward and out of the end zone for a safety.

The two points pulled East within 17-16 with :08.1 left.

On the subsequent free kick, O'Fallon was penalized and the Griffins took over at the Panthers' 45. Van Gennep completed a 4-yard pass to Hartmann. He was tackled and the clock ran out.

Moore missed a 42-yard field goal try with 3:20 left in the third quarter, the wind at his back. The ball hooked left right at end.

In the first half, O'Fallon took the opening kickoff and went 62 yards in eight plays. The Panthers' scoring drive was capped on a 35-yard field goal by Kurt Rosenbaum.

East took a 7-3 lead on a 3-yard run by Starke with 2:00 left in the first quarter. On East's next series, Van Gennep had a pass intercepted by D.J. Hendrix. He returned it 67 yards for a touchdown with 9:05 left in the first half. The return put O'Fallon ahead for good.

On the next play from scrimmage, the Griffins fumbled. O'Fallon recovered at the East 40. Three plays later, Hendrix scored on a 4-yard run to extend the Panthers' lead to 17-7.

With 1:05 left in the first half, Evans returned a punt 65 yards to O'Fallon 20. But Van Gennep threw his third interception. David McDaniel came up with the pick -- his second of half. Van Gennep finished 7-of-16 for 65 yards.

The Griffins outgained the Panthers more than 2-to-1 (277-133) and limited 0'Fallon to 15 yards in the second half.

"I'm proud of my kids for battling as hard as they did," Zvonar said. "Early on, we didn't make some key defensive stops. But the defense kept us in it at the end.

"Heartache and disappointment are a part of athletics. But I had a blast coaching this team. They're great kids and I love them."

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