The hugs, long faces and tears told who lost Saturday’s 7A second-round playoff game between St. Laurence and Lincoln-Way West even more than the glaring lights of the scoreboard.
The Warriors of West were giddy. The host Vikings, not so much. After victories in the opening two games of the IHSA’s expanded playoffs kept their season alive, they met a foe as tenacious as they were. It went to overtime and Lincoln-Way West earned a 21-14 decision in the first extra session.
Thus the hugs and handshakes between Vikings, many of them playing for the last time on Kavanagh Field. And thus the tears, and the effort to hold them back.
Among the players in the latter category was quarterback Noah Taylor, a junior whose offensive play carried the Vikings until overtime, when burly lineman Austin Evans dropped him for a 9-yard loss on the first play after West had gone ahead on quarterback Jacob Howard’s 10-yard scamper up the middle.
“It’s a hard feeling, last game with my senior guys,” Taylor said between deep breaths. “It’s always a hard feeling saying goodbye.”
“I double-swatted (a lineman), got skinny and got through the gap. Saw the quarterback and it was over from there,” the 250-pound Evans said.
“It’s a big play for them,” Taylor said. “Next play, I wanted to get back to the sticks, then get in the end zone.”
The plan went awry. On second-and-19, Taylor whistled a ball toward receiver Evan Panther, streaking toward the right corner of the end zone. West defender Daniel Redican hung on Panther like he was picking his pocket, but after a second half with a half-dozen penalties, no flags flew as the ball hit the ground.
So it was third down, and Taylor threw again, this time to the back left corner of the end zone. No Viking was there, but Redican was, intercepting the ball to end the game in West’s favor.
Until then, the playoff dream was alive, and in a gritty defensive battle, the Vikings (5-7) gave as good as they got against the resilient Warriors (8-4).
Dave Campbell’s 3-yard plunge earned the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 4:51 left in the first quarter. Only what West coach Luke Lokanc called his version of the Philly Special, receiver Davey Kosulinski’s 8-yard option pass to rolled out quarterback Jacob Howard, tied the game early in the second.
West went ahead 14-7 on a 9-yard Howard pass to Braydon McNulty with 9:12 left in regulation, but the Vikings tied it on the next possession via Taylor’s 3-yard plunge with 6:41 to play.
So to overtime it went, and in minutes, the Vikings’ 253-231 yardage edge mattered not.
Only the outcome did, and with it the pain, which soon will be converted into the motivation to do everything to avoid the same feeling next year.
“I’m going to use this feeling I’m feeling right now to drive me through the offseason,” said Taylor, 14-for-26 for 164 yards. “I’ll get me and my younger guys together and make sure that we don’t have this feeling ever again.”