NEW LENOX -- When Pete Houlihan burst into the seam deep in the secondary, gathered in a perfect pass from Mike Hoffmeister and outran the defense to complete an 85-yard touchdown play, it looked for all the world that Providence Catholic High School would get a shot at that 10th state football championship after all.
The big play late in the third quarter brought the Celtics into a 10-10 tie with Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, which to that point had pretty well dominated Saturday afternoon's Class 6A semifinal at Kaffer Stadium.
But the Cyclones, who had lost all of their previous six playoff games against Joliet area opponents, refused to be denied. With senior quarterback Tim Dondanville running the spread offense to perfection, Sacred Heart-Griffin drove 59 and 62 yards to touchdowns on its next two possessions to lead 24-10 with 5 minutes 11 seconds left.
Two Providence possessions later, the Celtics went 50 yards to score and get within 24-17 with 1:19 remaining. But that's the way it ended after the Cyclones' John Lantz, who was wearing extra protection for his cracked ribs but still was a factor, fell on Pat Wright's onside kick attempt.
Sacred Heart-Griffin (12-1) will take a 12-game winning streak into next Saturday's 6A title game against Lemont at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Providence (8-5) had its six-game win streak end following a 2-4 start against a rugged schedule.
"You have to give them credit," said Providence linebacker Joe Michals, the MVP of a Celtics defense that experienced an up-and-down afternoon attempting to corral Dondanville and running back Gary Wilson. "The way he (Dondanville) disguised the option gave us some problems.
"Best of luck to those guys next week."
"They're a great team," said Houlihan, who doubles at cornerback and as a kick returner for the Celtics. "Give them the credit."
Wright, whose 43-yard field goal inched Providence within 10-3 moments before the Hoffmeister-to-Houlihan strike, added, "We definitely had the momentum when we tied it. We finally got some points on the board and were feeling pretty good. But then they came right back and scored.
"They're good, very good. We knew all along we were in for a game."
Neither team did much offensively in the first half, although Sacred Heart-Griffin did make an occasional big play. The first was Dondanville's 68-yard run to the Providence 15 on a quarterback draw. Two plays later, he threw in the left flat to Wilson, who cut inside to elude two potential Providence tacklers and took it to pay dirt for a 7-0 lead with 8:08 left in the half.
"They had a great offensive scheme," Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. "They didn't throw as much as we had planned. We knew they would run the ball some out of the spread, but they ran it better than we thought they would.
"It came down to tackling and not tackling. We didn't tackle."
Dondanville completed a 32-yard pass to Adrian Cave to begin Sacred Heart-Griffin's next possession, but the Celtics' defense stiffened.
In the final half-minute of the half, the Cyclones completed a pass off a fake field goal and appeared to have a first down - or more - in hand, but Providence defensive back Bobby McDonald made an outstanding solo tackle short of the first down.
So the Celtics' defense had its moments. But the offense had difficulty getting untracked. Providence had mustered only two first downs and 73 total yards at halftime.
"I think our linemen were a little confused in the beginning," Hoffmeister said. "They didn't give us a different look, but we'd be on our blocks and then we lost them late in the plays. Their linebackers were getting off blocks and making great tackles.
"After the first couple series, we got some of that corrected and would have done more than we did the rest of the first half, but we shot ourselves in foot with some penalties."
"They're a really good defense, and we struggled a little in our execution," Celtics all-state offensive tackle Pat Ward said. "We put ourselves in bad situations with penalties, and they are a quick and physical defense."
"Our timing wasn't good," Hoffmeister said. "We waited until it was too late to start playing.
"I wish we would have had another quarter to play."
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