Sandburg coach Troy McAllister faced a decision in a Week 6 Southwest Suburban crossover game at Lincoln-Way Central.
In reality, it wasn’t much of a choice: Let your best athletes make a play.
And they did.
In the Eagles’ 28-27 victory over Lincoln-Way Central, Charlie Snoreck caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Shelton with 38.4 seconds remaining. Drew Drzonek’s extra point sealed the win.
Both Shelton and Snoreck are seniors and three-year starters.
“We wanted to get the ball in our best players’ hands,” McAllister said. “Charlie and Anthony have a special connection. We set up a play for them. We took a timeout and put together from our package what would be the best play to get Charlie the ball in the back of the end zone to win the game.”
Shelton completed 20 of 31 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns. Snoreck led the Eagles (5-1) with 10 catches for 132 yards.
Trailing by two touchdowns, Sandburg pulled within 14-7 on a 20-yard pass from Shelton to Lucas Matykiewicz (five catches, 133 yards) with 2:49 left in the second quarter.
A 28-yard touchdown pass from Shelton to Snoreck tied the score at 14-14 with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Down 21-14, Luke Basiorka scored on a 1-yard run with 10:08 to play in the fourth quarter. He finished with 23 carries for 68 yards.
“We talked about it at halftime that this was a test for us,” McAllister said. “We’ve had leads during the season when we’ve won, but this is something new. To come back and win is a testament to the young men in our program and their ability to overcome adversity and come out with the victory.”