Football: No. 1 Rocks seal win with late interception
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By Jim Baranski | Monday, September 15, 2008 |
CRETE, Ill. — An interception by Andrew Palm preserved a 7-6 Rock Island victory at Crete-Monee in nonconference action Friday night.
Taking over at their own 23-yard line with 90 seconds left, the Warriors used four completions, along with a penalty to move the ball to the Rocks 12 with 20 seconds remaining. On second-and-4, Crete-Monee quarterback Lexus Jackson’s pass was picked by Palm.
“Eddie (Hamilton) made the play when he tipped the ball,” Palm said. “I simply grabbed it. I started to run, but everyone said to hit the ground.
“This was a game like Joliet Catholic and Moline,” Palm continued. “It is the kind of game that will help us understand how hard we need to practice.
“Tonight, without the tip by Eddie and that last offensive drive, I don’t know if we would have won.”
Early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors had driven to the Rock Island 17.
The Rocks, ranked No. 1 in Illinois Class 6A, then forced Crete-Monee to try a field goal, but the 34-yarder was short.
Without a second-half first down, the Rocks took over at the 20 with 9:04 left in the contest. On third-and-8, Charlie Nunn skirted the left side for 13 yards and a key first down.
From there, the Rock reeled off three more first downs.
Finally, Rock Island turned the ball over at the Crete-Monee 23. The drive, however, grounded out 57 yards and ate 7½ minutes off the clock.
“That was an important drive,” Rock Island coach Vic Boblett said. “Our defense was tremendous, especially being on the field most of the night.”
The Warriors’ lone score came on the first possession of the game.
Justin Roudez passed to Jackson in the flat, and the sophomore raced 13 yards to the end zone. The Crete-Monee PAT was wide left.
The Rocks (2-0) took advantage of a Crete-Monee mishap on the punting. On fourth down, the Warriors had a bad snap over punter Gary Young’s head for a 27-yard loss. It gave Rock Island the ball at the C-M 34.
Rock Island picked up two first downs. On first-and-goal at the 5, Kendrick Heams slipped off left tackle. When the play ended, Warrior Tre’ Jenkins had the ball in the end zone, but Heams had already scored prior to the fumble. Sepehr Kalhor then nailed the conversion, and it was the point that proved to be the difference.
Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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