Sports

Class 7A Football Playoffs: Andrew Rallies but Falls Short vs. St. Rita

St. Rita 28, Andrew 13: The Mustangs capitalized on two of three interceptions thrown by T-Bolts quarterback Tyler Hook and sealed the game with a late TD.

Breaking It Down: won six straight games to get to the second round of the playoffs, but in Round 2 the Thunderbolts drew a very tough St. Rita Mustangs team, headlined by running back Tim Lombard and wideouts Kenny Golladay and T.J. Verdun. Though Andrew made a game of it in the second half, the Mustangs got the best of the T-Bolts, 28-13, Friday night in Tinley Park.

The Andrew defense shut down the Mustangs on their first drive, forcing a punt from inside the St. Rita 20-yard line. Andrew started its first possession around midfield, but progress was stopped, and a 35-yard filed-goal attempt by Mike Elhers hooked left.

The Mustangs then capped off a roughly six-minute, 80-yard drive with Lombard scoring on a 5-yard run. In the second quarter, the Mustangs took advantage of two Tyler Hook interceptions. The first was returned by David Giles for 25 yards, setting up a short field for the Mustangs. It was only a matter of time before quarterback Scott Thomas connected with Verdun for a 5-yard touchdown pass. Just a few minutes later, Will McNamara picked off Hook to set up Thomas’ 35-yard touchdown pass to Golladay. The Mustangs went into the halftime break with a 21-0 lead.

Find out what's happening in Tinley Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the second half, it was Andrew's turn to take advantage of a St. Rita turnover. Jarvis Franklin intercepted a Thomas pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter. In the fourth, Franklin would hit pay dirt again, this time on the offensive side of the ball from 5 yards out to cap Andrew's only scoring drive (80 yards). A Mustangs player got a hand on the extra-point attempt, forcing the ball wide left, and St. Rita’s lead was 21-13 with 2:00 left to play.

The end of Andrew's hopes came with a little over a minute left in regulation, when St. Rita senior running back Mike Zunica broke into the open field for a 38-yard touchdown run.

Find out what's happening in Tinley Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch MVP: St. Rita's Scott Thomas was 7-of-14 passing for 82 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception. He also had five carries for 20 yards.

St. Rita Stat Pack: Tim Lombard had 94 yards and a TD on 21 carries; Mike Zunica had 73 yards and a TD on 10 carries; Kenny Golladay had three catches for 55 yards and a TD.

Andrew Stat Pack: Tyler Hook was 14-of-22 passing for 190 yards and three interceptions; Jarvis Franklin had 33 yards and a TD on 10 carries and 44 yards on two catches, and he returned an interception for a TD; Joe Sanfilippo had six catches for 73 yards.

Quotable: Andrew head coach Jim Malec on his team's impressive run: "I'm proud of our kids for being able to pick themselves up after starting 1-3. They also came back here in the second half and made it a football game. I told them to play to the last minute and do the things that got you here."

Team Records: St. Rita improves to 9-2. Andrew finishes the season at 7-4.

What's Next: St. Rita will go on to play O'Fallon next weekend.

Other Scores of Note: 8A: Homewood-Flossmoor 48, Lockport 7; 7A: Wheaton-Warrenville South 7, Lincoln-Way East 0; O'Fallon 34, Pekin 31; 6A: Lemont 35, Oak Forest 14.



Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here