Plainfield South’s Leo Gamino kicks winning field goal as time expires vs. DeKalb

PLAINFIELD — Through two weeks of the season, there is not much question who the MVP of Plainfield South’s football team is.

That award would go to Leo Gamino, the Cougars’ kicker.

For the second week in a row, Gamino provided the difference in a South victory. While his field goal in last week’s 3-0 win over Yorkville came in the first half, on Friday night, Gamino booted a 36-yard field goal as time expired to give South a 17-14 win over DeKalb and push the Cougars’ record to 2-0.

“Every single player on this team is important,” Gamino said. “I had a few nerves for the kick, but I put my faith in God and trusted in Him. That is a kick I have practiced thousands of times. To make it to win a game feels awesome.

“When I went on the field, I didn’t really hear the crowd or anything else. I was just focused on what I had to do.”

It was the culmination of an emotional night for the Cougars, who saw offensive lineman Donte Green, who had a scout from Dartmouth to watch him at the game, go down with a leg injury in the first half. Green was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.

“When we lost Donte, we all said we wanted to win it for him,” Gamino said. “We dedicated this win to him.”

Plainfield South would not have been in the position to win the game without its stout defense and the arm and legs of quarterback Cody Hogan. In the first half, Hogan scrambled for a seven-yard touchdown run and Gamino’s kick gave South a 7-6 lead with 1:48 to go until halftime, a lead they took into intermission after Orlando Cruz intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart a DeKalb scoring bid on the final play of the half.

The Barbs (0-2) received the second-half kickoff and marched downfield, using the combination of quarterback Cole Latimer and receiver Davon Grant. The pair connected three times for 52 yards on the 71-yard drive before Grant started in motion, stopped under center and took the snap for a 1-yard TD plunge. Latimer ran in the two-point conversion and gave the Barbs a 14-7 lead midway through the third. Latimer finished 14 of 31 for 126 yards, while Grant caught five passes for 57.

“We made some adjustments and had a good drive to start the second half,” DeKalb coach Derek Schneeman said. “In the first half, we had too many mistakes. We missed some assignments and dropped some passes. We just didn’t execute well.

“But, you have to give a lot of credit to Plainfield South. They had a good game plan. They milked every second they could off the clock and their defense was very tough. We also had a couple of turnovers late that hurt us.”

South’s Mike Ingram forced a fumble midway through the fourth quarter and teammate AJ Blatchford recovered at the Cougars’ 43. On 3rd and 9, Hogan hit Caden Pierceall for a 22-yard gain and a first down. Then, on 3rd and 10, Hogan connected with Brook Williams for a gain of 25 to the DeKalb 9. After a loss of a yard on first two, two incompletions brought up 4th and goal from the 10. Hogan took the snap and rolled to his right, where he found a DeKalb defender waiting for him. He reversed his field and rolled back to the left. Nearing the sideline with defenders bearing down on him, he launched a pass to the corner of the end zone and Buddy Amos made a diving catch for a touchdown and Gamino’s kick tied the game with 2:46 left.

“They blitzed a lot of guys on that play,” Hogan said. “I knew that our receivers would be 1 on 1, so I just wanted to buy some time for them to get open. I saw Buddy and threw it.

“It’s definitely a great feeling to get a win like this and to be 2-0. Our defense has been great, and it’s nice for us on offense to know that the defense has our back and will keep us in any game we play.”

On the next drive, Latimer heaved a pass deep on 3rd and 19, but it was intercepted by Pierceall at the 25. He then returned it 35 yards to the DeKalb 40 to set up the winning drive. In typical Cardiac Cougar fashion, the big play came on 3rd and long. Facing a 3rd and 12, South’s Prentice Smith took a handoff on a draw and bolted 14 yards up the middle for a first down. After a loss of a yard on first down, South called timeout with :04 left to set up for the field goal. DeKalb tried to ice Gamino with a timeout of its own, but it was to no avail as the kick sailed through the uprights as time expired.

“We kept our intensity up all game,” South coach Jake Brosman said. “We like to let Cody scramble and ad-lib. When he gets creative, good things tend to happen for us. And how about Leo Gamino? He just keeps coming through for us.

“Our linebackers have been phenominal. They have worked so hard to be as good as they are, and it’s nice to see the results of that hard work. After Donte got hurt, the team rose up and wanted to win it for him. It’s tough to lose a player like that, but these guys got the job done.”