Lockport’s last-second kick doesn’t fly this time; Sandburg scores win

ORLAND PARK – For the second straight week, the Lockport football team had a game that was decided on a kick in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

But this time, the Porters came up short.

Declan Glynn got a hand on a potential game-winning field goal, and Sandburg held on for a 30-28 victory over Lockport in the SouthWest Suburban Conference opener for both teams.

Anthony Shelton threw for 300 yards and had a pair of touchdown passes as the Eagles improved to 3-1, 1-0. Lockport (3-1, 0-1), which saw Nate Blezewski boot a 49-yard field goal with under a second left in regulation to tie the game and then go onto an overtime victory over Naperville Central last week, fell short this time.

“This means a lot,” Shelton said. “It was the first conference game, and there were a lot of people doubting us. But we got a big win. I had to be a gunslinger out there, and we couldn’t have done it without the big boys on our line.”

Shelton, who was 18 of 27 for 300 yards, threw TD passes of 74 yards to fellow junior Charlie Snoreck, and his 69-yard one to Sean Weisberger with 9:22 to play gave Sandburg a 30-21 lead.

But back came the Porters, as senior running back Jordan Kemp scored his second touchdown of the day on a 7-yard run with 4:48 remaining.

After giving up one first down, the Porter defense held. They got the ball back at their own 35 with 2:14 to play. A pair of pass completions from senior quarterback Drew Gallagher (5 of 13 for 81 yards) of 19 and 8 yards,helped get Lockport into field-goal range at the Eagles 28.

With the clock winding down, Blazewski, a senior who has hit from 51 yards this season, lined up to try what he hoped would be a game-winning 45-yard kick. But Sandburg called a timeout with seven seconds to play and regrouped.

Glynn, a junior linebacker, then raced in off the edge to get a hand on it, and the ball fluttered only about 20 yards. The Eagles ran out the clock and celebrated a big win.

“I think this was our barometer,” Sandburg coach Troy McAllister said. “Lockport is a really good, physical team, and this win is a credit to what we are doing.”

It was a disappointing end to another nice comeback effort by the Porters.

“Give Sandburg credit,” Lockport coach George Czart said. “They had two big pass plays on us, and that’s been our Achilles’ heel. We have a young secondary, and we had guys come up on those long passes, and the receivers slipped behind them.

“We also had issues on special teams with two missed field goals, and they recovered an onside kick. Still, we kept scoring and gave ourselves a chance to win, and I was happy with that.”

The game started well enough for Lockport. Senior running back Elijah Beltran scored from 2 yards out to cap the opening drive of the game.

Then both teams made big plays. Shelton found Snoreck for the 74-yard TD pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:06 left in the first quarter, but Johnny Wesolowski returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a TD, and Lockport led 14-7 with 4:52 to play in the opening quarter.

Sandburg, however, kicked a trio of field goals from 37, 23, and 31 yards to lead 16-14 at halftime. The final field goal of 31 yards on the final play of the second quarter came after Blazewski was wide left on a 28-yard attempt with 2:20 to play in the half.

To make matters better for the Eagles, all the field goals were by Drew Drzonek, a sophomore, who was brought up the day before to kick in his first varsity game.

“I was prepared and just had to get the nerves out,” Drzonek said. “Charlie Snoreck was my holder, and he was perfect. It was awesome to get this win on homecoming and experience a game like this, especially against Lockport.”

After passing a lot, the Eagles opened the third quarter with 11 straight runs, nine of those by Luke Basiorka, who accounted for 78 yards on the 80-yard drive. The sophomore, who had 31 carries for 166 yards, came out, and freshman Quinn Durkin capped it by scoring from the 2 for a 23-14 lead with 7:17 left in the third quarter.

With five seconds left in the third, Kemp (10 carries for 112 yards) broke free for a 71-yard touchdown scamper, and Lockport closed within 23-21.

“We just have to keep this momentum going,” Shelton said. “It’s a huge confidence-builder for us.”