Providence has close call against Oswego

OSWEGO -- The formula has worked all season. Why change things now?

Week after week, the Providence Catholic High School football team has found itself in tense battles against quality opponents. And week after week, the Celtics have come out on top.

In Friday night's Class 6A second-round playoff game against Oswego, the Celtics had to get it done in overtime. And sure enough, they had enough in the tank to remain alive.

Senior tailback Tim Hanrahan scored on a 6-yard run and the Providence defense stopped Oswego's fourth-and-7 pass attempt as the Celtics prevailed 16-10.

Whew.

Even after losing three fumbles, having a pass intercepted and a punt blocked, even after a game in which they totaled an uncharacteristially low 8 first downs, Providence (10-1) lived to see the quarterfinals, where they will be home next weekend against either Crete-Monee or Normal Community.

"We can't look past anybody, we know that," said senior defensive tackle Steve Laski, who was in the middle of a huge fourth-down stop at the Celtics' 5-yard line late in the third quarter, following the blocked punt.

Providence, which limited Oswego to 199 total yards and 7 first downs and received interceptions from Pete Houlihan and Cody Cleveland, trailed 7-3 at the time. With how well the Oswego defense was playing, another touchdown by the Panthers (8-3) probably would have been enough.

But Laski, junior linebacker/defensive end Zac Plantz and the rest of the Celtics' interior was there to make the huge stop.

"That's our strength, with Laski and (Tyler) Plantz there in the middle," Celtics coach Mark Coglianese said.

Minutes later, after the Providence offensive line had begun to give Hanrahan running room he had not had most of the night, junior quarterback Joe Houlihan rolled right and hit tight end Steve Arthurs toward the right sideline. Arthurs eluded the nearby tackler, turned up the sideline and took it 64 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

Alec Pickett, who earlier booted a 38-yard field goal, kicked the extra point for a 10-7 lead with :07 left in the third quarter.

Oswego had led since early in the game. The Panthers had the strong wind at their backs in the first quarter, pinned the Providence offense deep in its territory and wound up scoring on a coverage breakdown as Ryan West hit a wide-open Sean Danielson with a 40-yard pass-and-run play. That gave Oswego a 7-0 lead with 4:37 left in the first quarter.

"They came out and hit us in the mouth right off the bat," Zac Plantz said. "We had a few miscommunications early, but then we adjusted."

"I wish we would go a little less with these tuffer games, but they do show us what we still have to work on," Laski said.

On the next possession following the Providence touchdown, Hanrahan broke a 37-yard run but fumbled at the end of the play, and Oswego recovered. Hanrahan rushed for 124 yards in the fourth quarter, 10 yards in the overtime and finished with 209 yards in 33 carries, but with three lost fumbles.

"Four turnovers and a blocked punt, we obviously were fortunate to win," Coglianese said. "They (Panthers) were well prepared and played hard. But our guys rose to occasion all year.

"Yeah, I wish we had played better, especially offensively. Nobody feels worse than Tim (Hanrahan). Normally he doesn't put the ball on the ground."

Midway through the fourth quarter, Houlihan's pass was intercepted at the Providence 37-yard line, and again the Celtics' defense had to step up. Oswego made one first down, then called on Drew Boldridge for a 40-yard field goal. It was his first attempt of the season, but with the wind behind him, he delivered to tie it 10-10 with 5:38 left.

Providence punted on next possession, then regained possession with 1:14 to go. Hanrahan gained 54 yards in 5 carries on that drive, but time expired to bring about overtime, where each team gets four downs from the 10.

Oswego won the toss and chose to play defense first, and Providence picked the side of the field into the wind.

"We wanted to go into the wind because we were running the ball at that point," Coglianese said. "If they wanted to throw it, we wanted them to throw into the wind. Plus, we're confident in our kicker (Pickett) into the wind."

Right on cue, Hanrahan scored from 6 yards out on second down. However, the holder could not handle the snap, so the score remained 16-10.

Oswego ran a play for no gain (Plantz making the stop), received an illegal substitution penalty, threw an incompletion and then a screen for 8 yards to the 7 (Laski making the tackle).

On fourth down, West dropped the ball under a heavy rush. Running back Adam Brooking picked it up and threw it into the end zone, but no one was in the neighborhood.

With that, the Celtics had won their 10th straight game. A 10th state title remains the goal.

Whew.