IHSA Class 5A playoffs: Late fumble ends Sycamore’s season in second-round loss to Morgan Park

CHICAGO – Tyler Curtis fumbled going into the end zone, Ahmad Grayer came away with the ball, and Morgan Park preserved their 27-21 win over Sycamore.

And Mustangs coach Chris James missed it. He was instead psyching up his offense for the 2-minute drive they’d seemingly need to win the Class 5A second-round contest at Gately Stadium.

“I was talking to the offense, trying to get them to respond and go back out there,” James said. “But the kids are playmakers. They’ve done it for a while and they sprinted to the ball.”

Sycamore (9-2) took over with just over 6 minutes in the game needing a touchdown to take the lead. Starting at the 43, the Spartans converted two third downs and had it first-and-10 at the Morgan Park 13 with 2:16 left.

Curtis took the handoff, and with a second effort seemed headed for the end zone. He lost control of the ball just before he crossed the plane, and Grayer recovered in the end zone.

It turns out all the offense would have do is pick up a first down, which the Mustangs did. Three runs and two kneeldowns later, Morgan Park (10-1) had its victory. The Mustangs will head to either St. Francis or Sterling for a quarterfinal match.

“He ran really hard all night long,” Sycamore coach Joe Ryan said of Curtis. “Just one of those things where the ball came out and he just wasn’t across the end zone. But he ran really hard and he ran hard for us all year long. It’s just unfortunate it’s the last play he’ll have cause he had a lot of really good plays for us.”

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Sycamore’s Diego Garcia (8) dives towards the end zone during the second quarter where he was ruled down on the one yard line while taking on Morgan park on Saturday Nov. 4, 2023 at Gately Stadium in Chicago. (David Toney for Shaw Local/David Toney)

Morgan Park took the lead on the previous drive. Marcus Thaxton found Johnovan Wysinger on the first play of the drive on a 71-yard bomb for a score, however a holding call brought it back.

But that didn’t discourage the Mustangs, who got the first down on a screen to Stanley Thompson and faced just one third down on the way to Keshawn Lewis-Hunt’s second touchdown of the day.

James said he’ll randomly call penalties in practice to prepare his team for situations like that.

“We honestly do practice that,” James said. “It’s a holding penalty, bring it back. Or if they get a big play I’ll call it back, pass interference. In these games, things like that happen. I’m proud of the way they responded.”

Lewis-Hunt finished the game with 85 yards on 17 carries. Chirs Durr had six catches for 36 yards while Thaxton threw for 94 yards and an interception.

“You can’t stop all of us, man,” Lewis-Hunt said. “You just can’t. Double 13 [Durr], you’ve still got 2-4 [Lewis-Hunt] in the back. I don’t think anyone in the state can tackle me one-on-one.”

Sycamore led 18-7 at the half. And although Morgan Park had outscored the Spartans 20-3 in the second half, Sycamore still had the chance to win on the last drive.

“We were pushing the field obviously and got right where we wanted to,” Sycamore quarterback Burke Gautcher said. “We just couldn’t make the play.”

The Spartans opened the game with a 14-play, 68-yard drive that ate 7:28 off the clock, capped by a 21-yard play-action pass from Gautcher to Kyle Prebil. The Spartans converted three third downs and a fourth on the drive.

The Mustangs answered with a seven-play, 68-yard drive, scoring on a 28-yard option run by Thaxton.

“There’s a lot of sad kids in that huddle, and it’s because we work so hard and our expectations are so high,” Ryan said. “They shouldn’t be sad about the effort they had preparing themselves to get to this point.”

Sycamore answered with a quick-strike drive, getting a 37-yard run from Dylan Hodges and a 26-yard run from Diego Garcia to push the lead to 15-7, with Curtis capping the drive with a 1-yard scoring run for the 15-7 lead in the second quarter.

Curtis came up with a huge interception on the next drive, picking Thaxton in Sycamore territory to end a Mustang scoring threat. Sycamore got a 31-yard field goal from Thatcher Friedrichs to go up 18-7 with 1:06 left before halftime.

Sycamore outgained Morgan Park 322-316 in the loss. Curtis ran for 78 yards, while Garcia had a game-high 95. Gautcher completed all four of his passes for 76 yards.

“I’m going to tell you what, these seniors have come a long way,” Ryan said. “I told them at the end, when they were seventh graders they weren’t very good. And then as eighth graders they made modest improvements, which still wasn’t very good. But every year they kept coming back and the people who stayed were really, really good football players for us and got us to 9-2.”