Heroes aplenty: Glenwood survives Richards in playoff overtime thriller

OAK LAWN — If each Glenwood hero got an individual float in a back-to-town parade into Chatham on Saturday night following a 52-51 Class 6A second-round playoff win in overtime, Illinois 4 would be backed up to Springfield.

There’s Mia Gerger, the Titans’ junior kicker who made all eight of her kicks — including the game-tying 20-yard field goal at the end of regulation. It was the most pressure of any kick of her career, she said.

“That’s why I love this game,” Gerger said. “When I get that pressure like that, it’s just the same as any extra point. Plus, I’ve got such an amazing snapper (Xavier Try) and holder (David Helm) this year, I knew I didn’t have to worry about anything on that.”

There’s Jonny Helm, who did enough offensively to land on this list with eight catches, 105 yards and two touchdowns, but made the game-winning tackle as Myles Mitchell attempted the go-ahead two-point conversion in overtime.

“I figured they were going outside so I made a move on it and got the tackle,” Helm said.

How about Gavin Simmons? He caught 10 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns, including a 59-yarder in the third quarter after Glenwood’s first second-half possession ended in a lost fumble and the second was punted away.

“It felt really, really good,” Simmons said of his 59-yarder. “We came out in the second half on a slow start, they had scored a couple of times and we were tied. We just came out knowing we needed to score here to keep it a good game.”

Justin Hay and Theo Blackston will share one highlight in particular among many they made. As Hay brought down Richards’ quarterback Dijon Newman, the ball popped up where Blackston grabbed it and ran uncontested for a 20-yard game-tying TD early in the second quarter.

“I can’t take too much credit for that. Justin did all the work for me,” Blackston said. “We saw (Newman) on film, and he’s a great football player, (but) we saw sometimes he likes to throw the ball up, and he tried to throw the ball up in the air, and I grabbed it and just ran.”

Don’t forget about Colten Knoedler, the sophomore quarterback who stayed in the pocket under pressure to deliver 385 yards and five touchdown passes on 30 of 41 completions.

“Receivers run just great routes, great concepts by our offensive coordinator (Trevor Lehnen) — he did an amazing job today,” Knoedler said. “O-Line: (Richards) was sending the house — six, seven people — every time; (the offensive linemen) were picking up everybody they could, just giving me plenty of time to make throws.”

Heck, give them all their own floats. This win was quite a thriller. Now No. 6 Glenwood will host No. 2 Washington (10-1) in the Class 6A quarterfinals. Washington topped No. 7 Crete-Monee 21-0 on Saturday.

“In 32 years, I’ve never been in a more exciting game than that one,” Glenwood coach David Hay said. “I’ve been in ones that were similar, but that is a heck of a football game.”

After Blackston’s touchdown return, Simmons and Helm each caught touchdown passes as Glenwood led 21-14 at halftime. Simmons caught a game-tying touchdown near the end of the third to half a 14-0 Richards run.

That’s when a nutty fourth quarter began.

Luis Perez kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead. The teams then proceeded to trade scores for the final 12 minutes. Helm put Glenwood up 35-31 with 5 minutes, 55 seconds left before Mitchell busted through for a 55-yard touchdown and a 38-35 Oak Lawn advantage.

Then Knoedler ran in for a 3-yard touchdown run — Glenwood’s lone rushing touchdown — with 1:13 remaining.

Time for another score? Try enough time for two.

Newman came in for the first time in the second half after taking a hit at the end of the first and delivered two completions, including a 38-yard perfect strike to A.J. Pawlecki with 36.3 seconds left and to give Richards a 45-42 lead.

The Glenwood crowd was stunned, but not the players.

Knoedler found Mason Neumann for a 17-yard pass and stayed in the pocket long enough to draw a 15-yard personal foul penalty against a Richards defender for a late hit to move the ball to the Bulldogs’ 29. Knoedler found Simmons on the 7-yard line, and on third-and-goal from the 6, Hay sent out Gerger for a 23-yard attempt.

A Richards defensive player was called for offsides for a 3-yard penalty. A second offsides flag was declined by Hay, who said he never considered taking the half-the-distance penalty and trying to punch in the game-winning touchdown from the 1 ½-yard line.

“I thought we’d do well in the overtime,” Hay said. “I knew these guys over here would score, and I thought we had a chance to go stop them, so let’s go play overtime. We practiced it (the last three Thursdays) and we were ready for it.”

Gerger didn’t get rattled with the two flags despite perfect kicks that didn’t count. Once again, her 20-yard attempt was perfect.

“She is a cool customer,” Hay said of his 5-foot-1 kicker. “I’m trying to get her focused and she’s looking at me like, ‘Why are you even talking to me for?’

“She’s a cool kid, works at her craft, and she’s just another player on a football team, and she did her job.”

Mitchell, who had 180 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries, was nearly unstoppable out of the wildcat formation. Nearly. After needing just two carries to complete the overtime touchdown run, he took the snap, went to his left and was met by Helm. As soon as Helm made the tackle, he popped up while Mitchell stayed on the field in disbelief.

“He’s a dude,” Hay said of Mitchell. “We took on the double team up front in the middle, and it bounced. When (Mitchell) turned his pads, then we’ve got a shot to go run it down.

“I was happy to see him turn his pads; his pads had been up-field all game long.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Gerger sends Glenwood to OT; Jonny Helm makes winning tackle