Sycamore pulls off another fourth-quarter comeback, tops Oswego East in defensive battle

SYCAMORE – Twice this year the Sycamore football team has been losing entering the fourth quarter.

The Spartans are now 2-0 after another comeback, this time a 15-9 victory in a defensive struggle against Oswego East.

“We came out very strong and just fell off,” said Sycamore running back Dylan Hodges, who had 123 yards on 26 carries. “But one thing about this team that we saw last year as well is we never give up and we always fight to the end. I really appreciate every single one of us fighting as hard as we can.”

Sycamore lost three fumbles and was trailing 9-7 entering the fourth quarter. Thatcher Friedrichs attempted a 45-yard field goal but instead had to chase after a bad snap. But he got to the ball, scooped it up, and saw Jack Block open downfield for a 27-yard gain.

Kevin Lee punched it in from a yard out on the next play to put Sycamore ahead 13-9.

“It’s huge because it won us the game, right? It won us the game,” Sycamore coach Joe Ryan said. “We were down there in a different situation but it won us the game. Senior kid, didn’t panic. The good thing was it wasn’t like a punt and you’re trying to throw it down there because you have people covered. When it’s field goal, extra point, those guys are just holding. They’re thinking the ball’s going to be kicked so they don’t have to cover. So we didn’t have anybody downfield, or I don’t think we did.”

The Wolves went three-and-out on both possessions, but their defense kept the Spartans from scoring as well. The Spartans started a long drive with 4:52 left, but Oswego East stopped Josiah Mitchell on a reverse on a fourth-and-3 from the Wolves’ 10 to take control with a minute left and a chance to win.

But on the first play from the Wolves’ 6, the snap went over the head of quarterback Niko Villacci for a safety. Two kneel downs later and the Spartans escaped with the win.

After putting up 35 last week and amassing more than 350 yards of total offense in a 35-28 win over DeKalb - a game they trailed 28-14 in the fourth - Sycamore got 228 yards.

“As long as we got a defense that can continue to play like that, we’ve got a chance in every game that we play,” said Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc, whose team opened the season with a 14-0 loss to Waubonsie Valley. “Obviously we have to clean some things up on the offensive side of the board and clean some things up, but defense, that’s been our calling card for a few years now. We just got to get the offense to pick up the slack.

The Wolves (0-2) started the game with two bad special teams snaps on the same drive. On a fourth and 10, punter Caden Bregar recovered a high snap and ran 14 yards for the first down. But then after the next series failed to pick up a first down, the ball rolled down to the 11. After two runs by Hodges got the ball to the 11, Lee punched it in from a yard out.

Oswego East has given up three touchdowns this year, two on drives of 11 yards or less. They had 242 yards of total offense on Friday.

“Their two safeties are dudes,” LeBlanc said of Carter Yark and Burke Gautcher. “They do a great job. They don’t make a lot of mistakes up front, but they can make mistakes and those two guys can correct them. When they got the lead there in the second half, I think the game kind of sped up for our kids there and we had some mental mistakes.”

Zamarion Taylor had eight carries for 60 yards to lead the Wolves. Villacci was 10 of 23 for 107 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Pohlman on a streak, cutting the Sycamore lead to 7-6 with 4:15 left.

Later in the quarter, Sycamore fumbled a punt that set the Wolves up on the Spartans’ 39. A late hit after another deep pass to Pohlman got the ball to the 12, and Bregar made a field goal with 0:17 seconds left to give the Wolves a 9-7 lead at the break.

The Sycamore defense held the Wolves to 32 yards of total offense in the second half. Most of it came on a third-quarter drive that got down to the Sycamore 35 but ended in a punt that set up Friederich’s field goal attempt.

“This team is just great. This team being down both games, we just have so much commitment and dedication,” Hodges said. “We all love each other here. That’s something that really brings us together in these fourth-quarter situations.”