Larkin edges rival Elgin in 50th varsity Town Jug game
By Gene Chamberlain For Sun-Times Media September 24, 2011 7:28PM
Larkin's Luka Bogicevic (14) holds the TownJug after the Royals' victory over rival Elgin on Saturday at Memorial Field. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:38AM
When Elgin lined up to go for the two-point conversion and a win with 12 seconds left Saturday in the Town Jug game against rival Larkin, no one at Memorial Field batted an eyelash.
Kick for one and overtime? Hardly. This is not a game for the timid.
Sophomore quarterback Ryan Sitter’s bootleg pass went off the hands of Elrich Keophilalay for an incompletion on the two-point try, and a few seconds later the excited Larkin fans burst out of the stands onto the playing surface to celebrate with the jug after a 22-21 victory in the 50th varsity rendition of the crosstown series. Larkin leads the series 31-19.
“This is unbelievable,” said Larkin quarterback Kyle Newquist. “I’m speechless right now.”
The unbelievable part was Elgin had a chance to win it after Larkin had driven to the 1-yard line, looking to go ahead for good with 2:50 remaining.
The Maroons defense produced a goal-line stand, stopping Newquist inches away on a fourth-down sneak to preserve a 15-14 lead Elgin had gotten by gambling and succeeding on a two-point run by Jaylen Clemons with seven minutes left.
However, one play after the goal line stand, Larkin sniffed out another Clemons run with the Maroons backed up against their own goal line. Linebacker Brett Barry and defensive back
Sanquan McCall arrived in the backfield to tackle Clemons for a safety that gave Larkin the lead for good, 16-15, with 2:46 remaining.
“I came straight off the edge,” McCall said. “I was coming real fast. I knew we had to make a play. So I got there as quick as I could and Brett Barry finished it up.
“Me and my man Barry, we told the defense to keep our head up after (the goal-line stand). We knew we could get that Town Jug back if we kept our heads up. We knew we weren’t done because we came back from 20-0 against St. Charles East last week.”
The Royals (3-2, 2-1 Upstate Eight River) recovered the onside free kick following the safety and running back Mo Jackson, who led his team with 149 yards rushing on 34 carries, charged into the end zone with 1:19 remaining when Elgin (1-4, 0-3) let him score so it would have a chance at the tie with a TD and two-point conversion.
The Maroons, instead, needed only a TD and a kick for a tie because Rodrigo Tapia missed the conversion kick.
“There was no way for us to get the ball back,” Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. “I said, ‘let them score, see if we get a chance.’”
Larkin coach Mike Scianna admitted he thought at the last second of just killing the clock there instead of having Jackson score and give Elgin have one last chance, but it was too late for a timeout to get called.
So Sitter took Elgin 70 yards in 54 seconds, connecting six times on the drive including the TD that got the Maroons within 22-21 on a rollout pass to wide receiver Devin Gilliam in the right corner of the end zone.
“He’s maturing and getting better every week,” Bierman said of Sitter, who went 11-of-21 for 135 yards. “He’s right where he belongs.”
Running back Dennis Moore, who led Elgin with 136 yards on 20 carries, didn’t regret the decision to go for the win.
“We were at home, had the crowd behind us,” he said. “I think the best choice is to go for two and get the win. We wanted to get it done right now.
“Bootleg pass, play-action, the pass was there, the guy was there.”
Added Bierman about the gamble: “I just thought momentum-wise and everything else, it was the right thing. Obviously it doesn’t work and you have second thoughts.”
Newquist completed 8-of-16 for 193 yards, including an 80-yard TD to Justin Banks (4 catches, 111 yards) on the third play from scrimmage.
Moore came right back with a 2-yard TD run the next series and it was game on the rest of the way.
The Royals regained a seven-point lead at 14-7 with 8:14 left in the third quarter on Jackson’s 1-yard TD run. But the Maroons countered with a fourth-and-goal pass in the flat to Moore, who took it in for the TD with seven minutes left. Then Bierman gambled the first time for the go-ahead two-pointer that Clemons score.
But the Royals had plenty left.
“This is bragging rights for the rest of my life right here,” said Newquist. “This definitely makes our season.”
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