'Epic' battle: Sacred Heart-Griffin football comes up short against Morris in 5A playoffs
It was fourth down and 7 yards to go, with about four minutes left in the game. One stop – just one more stop – for the battered, bruised, hands-on-hips-tired Sacred Heart-Griffin defense, and one of the bigger upsets in the Class 5A IHSA state football playoffs would have been just a first down or two away.
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That’s when unbeaten Morris showed why it remains one of the favorites for a state title. Morris junior receiver Ethan Mumbrue, who only minutes before had dropped an easy touchdown pass in the end zone and plaintively looked to the sky from his back for several seconds, found redemption at the Cyclones' 41 with a sideline catch for 9 yards.
A few plays later, banged-up star senior running back Jacob Swartz ran the ball in from 4 yards. Morris successfully completed a two-point conversion and took a three-point lead over the Cyclones. Morris (11-0) held on for a 39-36 victory at Ken Leonard Field after Cyclones kicker Thomas Davis came up about 3 yards short of making a 52-yard field goal at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
Morris advances to the quarterfinals against Joliet Catholic.
Under the sunny autumn skies and kaleidoscope of leaf colors ringing the field, the game matched every bit the beauty of its surroundings. While SHG came up short, nobody will ever be able to accuse the 2023 Cyclones of not honoring their 2022 state champion predecessors. Despite injuries to some top players, they nearly pulled it off against one of the state’s best teams, one that, if rumors are to be believed, had promised to “clock” them beforehand.
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“We gave it everything we had,” SHG senior running back/linebacker Ethan Hagele said. “It hurts right now, but I know we can feel good about ourselves. We just came up a little bit short.”
With eye black shaped in the form of two crosses under his eyes, Mumbrue gave thanks for his redemptive catch, and praised the Cyclones (7-4) for what he said was an “epic” battle.
“I have a lot of respect for those guys over there. They really played us tough,” Mumbrue said. “For us, we never stopped believing. We thought we were going to win the game all the way, even when it got a little scary at the end. It was a great game and I was lucky to be a part of it.”
Cyclones senior quarterback Levi Hanauer played a great game, completing 23-of-34 passes for 339 yards, with four touchdowns – two passing and two running. At times, he was the only reliable running back his team had as senior Christian Pollard only played a couple of snaps because of an ankle injury, and Hagele was in concussion protocol at one point in the first half. Hanauer rushed for 64 of the Cyclones’ 71 yards on the ground.
“He was unbelievable for us,” first-year Cyclones coach John Allison said. “We had some guys who were asked to do more than they should have. I’m so proud of our seniors and the team as a whole. We never stopped fighting.”
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Things looked promising for the Cyclones when stalwart senior receiver/defensive back Josh McClain took a swing pass from Hanauer and juked his way to a 51-yard score to make it 36-32 for SHG. Jamarion Bardwell then picked off a pass from Morris QB Carter Button (18-30, 232 yards) near the end zone and returned it to the Cyclones 34. But a helmet-to-helmet penalty moved the ball back to the SHG 19, and Morris’ defense got the ball back at the SHG 49 with 6:08 left.
That’s when Morris went on what proved the winning drive, with Swartz running it in from 4 yards with 1:06 left.
“Nothing but respect for (SHG),” said Swartz, who ran for 128 yards on 29 carries. “They gave us everything we could handle. We were fortunate to come out with the win.”
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This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Morris escapes with win over SHG in 5A second round
