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WEST CHICAGO – Chuck Ahsmann had one last halftime speech to give, and a team in need of a jump start, so he made it a good one.
“He’s the one that got us lit up,” Crystal Lake South senior Luke Marchewka said. “We all got fired up. We’re like, ‘We’re going to win this game for him, it’s his last game.’ We’re really happy.”
Friday night's season finale was Ahsmann's final game with the Gators after 33 years in the program, the last seven as head coach. Ahsmann – who was diagnosed in 1992 with immunocytoma, a non-Hodgkins lymphoma that doctors told him would be a terminal form of cancer – announced this week he would step down from coaching after the game. He is planning to teach one more school year before retiring.
“It was great. As it was approaching, with social media now, the responses from a lot of the old players was just outstanding. That was really cool," Ahsmann said. "And the guys worked hard. Unfortunately, we came out a little flat, I thought, but they turned it on in the second half and played like I thought we could, so it was great.”
Despite a slow start, leading by one point at halftime, the Gators scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to deliver a win in the longtime coach's final game. The Gators beat West Chicago, 43-14, in a nonconference game at West Chicago High School.
“It was so important. We heard coach at halftime, he’s never been so fired up in a halftime speech," senior linebacker Brandon Mazzaferro said. "We just knew that we had to go out there and throw up some goose eggs for him. We were not going to let them in because we knew that would be an embarrassment to Coach. We needed to get his win.”
The second half unfolded exactly to plan, with the defense pitching a shutout and the offense breaking out early.
On the first play of the second half, West Chicago fumbled a toss sweep. The ball bounced up nicely to Sam Greenspan who picked it up and went 35 yards for a touchdown.
“Once Greenspan scored that scoop-and-score, I thought, 'Let’s roll with it,' and we did,” Gators quarterback Luke Nolan said.
The next time South's offense got the ball, Justin Ryan ran 82 yards for a touchdown on the first play.
Suddenly, South led, 29-14, with 7:27 left in the third quarter.
“Those two plays were really big,” Ahsmann said.
Luke Marchewka scored both of South's fourth-quarter touchdowns, from 1 yard out on the second play of the quarter and then from 10 yards with 4:35 left, making it 43-14.
Marchewka, who called Ahsmann "more like a father figure" to the Gators' players, said, “We had to win it for him. It’s his last game, it’s the seniors’ last game, I wanted to be happy. So he’s happy, I can tell.”
Mazzarro, who called Ahsmann "such an inspiring guy" and said he wants to "strive to be like him" had an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble to lead the defense.
The Gators' offense started the night well, with a touchdown run by Kyle Leva and a touchdown pass from Nolan to Matt Meyers in the first half. West Chicago (1-8) got two big-play first-half scores from Trey Lally, but a failed 2-point conversion had the Gators (3-6) leading at the break.
“He just said it’s not how it should be at all,” Nolan said. “We thought we were way better than this team. Our records are kind of the same but we know that we played some tough games, could have won a lot that we lost. He just got us fired up and we played for him.”
After the postgame handshakes, West Chicago’s PA announcer recognized Ahsmann, who then received a round of applause from his team, hugs from family, friends and players both past and present.
“Oh, huge, huge,” Ahsmann said of going out with a win. "Not a lot of coaches get a chance to go out the way they want to, and I go out on my terms, with a victory, so I don’t know if it gets any better than that."
UNSUNG HERO
Brandon Mazzaferro
Crystal Lake South, Sr., LB
Mazzaferro had an interception, recovered a fumble and forced another fumble in his final game as a Gator. “It just felt so good," he said. "It was the culmination of all the work I’ve been putting in all these years. It’s just amazing to see it all come together.”
QUICK STATS
Crystal Lake South 43, West Chicago 14
Crystal Lake South 8 - 7 - 14 - 14 - 43
West Chicago 8 - 6 - 0 - 0 - 14
First quarter
CLS- Leva 2 run (Leva pass from Rhoades), 6:31
WC- Lally 37 run (Pascal run), 4:14
Second quarter
CLS- Meyers 10 pass from Nolan (Young kick), 8:17
WC- Lally 77 pass from Stefan (Pascal run failed), 7:16
Third quarter
CLS- Greenspan 35 fumble return (Young kick), 11:41
CLS- Ryan 82 run (Young kick), 7:27
Fourth quarter
CLS- Marchewka 1 run (Young kick), 11:27
CLS- Marchewka 5 run (Young kick), 4:35
AND ANOTHER THING ...
The Gators’ defense held West Chicago to 47 yards in the second half, including forcing a pair of turnovers.