By KEVIN CHROUST - editorial@kcchronicle.com
Possley drives Saints to overtime triumph
AURORA – When St. Charles East turned the ball over on the Waubonsie Valley 12-yard line after an 11-play, 6-minute drive on its first possession of the third quarter, it was beginning to look like the Saints weren’t meant to find the end zone Friday, much less remain undefeated in the Upstate Eight Conference.
The Warriors then went 88 yards to take an 11-point lead on two touchdowns off East turnovers, and things were looking even worse for the Saints.
But that all changed in the final 11:10 of the fourth quarter and one overtime as quarterback Nolan Possley and kicker Dan Keller led the Saints to a come-from-behind, 21-14 win to stay atop the UEC.
“They just absolutely trust each other and they’re just great kids,” East coach Mike Fields said of his team. “I can’t tell you – first year doing this and I couldn’t ask for a better group. They never quit.”
Down 14-3, Possley (150 yards on 23 carries) took it upon himself to get the Saints (4-2, 4-0 UEC) into the end zone. The senior quarterback carried the ball five times to account for the entire 75-yard, game-changing drive, including a 42-yard touchdown run with 9:07 left to make it a one-possession game.
“That was all the line,” Possley said. “Those holes were big enough to drive a truck through. All I had to do was run with it – catch the ball and run. That line opened up huge holes.”
Zachary Zajicek’s two-point run made it 14-11.
It only took East four plays to get the ball back as free safety Bryce Barry intercepted Waubonsie Valley quarterback Kenny Clay’s pass over the middle with 7:20 left to give East the ball at its own 42.
East went right back to the run, mixing in Possley, Zajicek (56 yards on 19 carries) and fullback Andrew Gomez (68 yards on 13 carries), to give Keller a shot at tying it from 33 yards
He had narrowly made a 32-yarder in the first half. He slipped and barely got the ball over the line on the game-tying attempt, but it stayed high enough just long enough to even the score at 14-all with 2:31 left.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Fields said. “That’s tough on a kicker – standing there all night freezing in this weather and then all the sudden having to go out there and take care of business for his team.”
East got the ball first in overtime. Gomez was stopped for no gain on first down, but on second down Possley completed East’s first pass of the game to a wide-open Jess Striedl over the middle for the score.
“That was a great call by coach,” Possley said. “We’d been running that trap right up the middle all day to the fullback. He just called to fake it to him and give a little dump to the tight end. That was great protection and Jess came up with a great catch there.”
The defense then held up its end of the deal and stopped the Warriors (3-3, 2-2 UEC) from the 2-yard line on fourth down to seal the win.
Possley said it felt like a signature win for a program down in numbers this year that started the season 0-2.
Fields said heart tends to have a lot to do with such comeback wins when playing on the road against a team with a roster twice the length of his.
“I told the boys going into it three things were going to win this game: turnovers, field position and heart,” Fields said. “We might have lost turnovers and field position, but we won it with heart, and that’s how we’re going to carry this one.”