DUNLAP — Thanks to some quick strikes, the St. Laurence football clock has yet to strike midnight.
Cory Les ran for 227 yards and a touchdown, and St. Laurence scored twice in a 22-second third-quarter span Nov. 15 to beat Dunlap 28-14 in the Class 6A state quarterfinals.
The victory sends the underdog Vikings (8-4), the 10th seed in the 16-team 6A southern bracket, to a semifinal Nov. 22 in Burbank against defending state champion East St. Louis.
One of Illinois’ all-time programs, East St. Louis has 11 state titles and has outscored opponents 165-21 in three games this postseason. But shortly after he and his teammates dispatched Dunlap, Les didn’t sound like the impending state semifinal had him quaking in his glass slippers.
“The Vikes aren’t just a Cinderella story,” Les said. “We’re here to win.”
St. Laurence traveled 150 miles to the Peoria suburbs to face Dunlap (9-3) and tight end/linebacker Mack Sutter, a 6-6, 230-pound Alabama recruit and the state’s No. 1 senior prospect.
Although he recovered a St. Laurence fumble on the first play of the game, Sutter wasn’t much of a factor on offense. He caught two passes for 20 yards. St. Laurence coach Pat Swanson credited defensive backs Dan Hyland and Mickey Lotus for subduing Sutter.
“They did a phenomenal job of just fighting like hell,” Swanson said. “He was tough to prepare for. That was keeping us up all week.”
Another Division I college recruit probably will give Dunlap partisans nightmares for a while.
Bound to play baseball at Louisville, senior Les ran for 72 yards in an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped when Sean Rice scored from the 1 to give St. Laurence a 14-7 lead with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter.
Two plays from scrimmage later, at the Dunlap 30, St. Laurence’s Matthew Williams intercepted Dunlap quarterback Truman Tyra and scored his second pick- six in as many games.
“Definitely, the momentum shifted,” Les said. “You know you’ve got the game when you take the crowd out of it. The homefield advantage was there, but once you silence the crowd and get the momentum going … I knew from there we were going to win the game.”
Following Williams’ score, Dunlap drove to the St. Laurence 2. On third
down, the Eagles fumbled for a 7-yard loss. On fourth down, Tyra passed to Sutter in the far-left corner of the end zone, but Hyland had him covered.
A few seconds were about all Les needed to seal things after St. Laurence retook possession. His 80-yard
run along the Vikings’ sideline bowled over Eagles defenders and began a three-play, all-Les drive. Les finished it with a 3-yard run at 5:41 of the fourth quarter, and St. Laurence led 28-7
“We know we have a mutant in the backfield,” Swanson said. “When he gets the ball, he’s pretty special.”
The first half didn’t suggest a special game offensively for either team. They combined to punt eight times before St. Laurence scored first, when Jimmy McDermott passed 11 yards to Kameron McHugh 4:23 before intermission. St. Laurence missed its first five pass attempts before that completion.
Dunlap opened the second half with a drive that took half the third quarter before Jayden Schmick scored from 3 yards to tie it at 7. But a 50-yard Les run on the second play of the ensuing possession foreshadowed the St. Laurence late-quarter heroics.
“You kind of run with the horse a little bit,” Swanson said about Les. “When you have a guy like that, it makes playcalling really easy. We want to be a physical team, and Cory helps us be that.”