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PALATINE – Anyone who watched the Chicago Bears play the Washington Commanders last weekend knows a game is never over until it’s over.
Palatine trailed Warren by 17 points at the end of three quarters Friday in the Class 8A playoffs, and trailed by 14 with 1:35 left.
But after scoring a quick touchdown and recovering their second onside kick of the night, the Pirates still had a chance at the Warren 28-yard line with eight seconds left.
Quarterback Detton Tietjens let it fly, and instead of batting it in the air, Blue Devils defensive back Zion Vines-Peterson made the interception in the end zone to seal the 31-24 upset victory.
Warren (6-4) will host Barrington Friday in Gurnee.
“I knew I was going to catch it, too, because I got robbed of like four or five picks today,” Vines-Peterson said. “We just worked all week. We watched a lot of film. Played our hearts out. We knew we could win this game.”
Palatine lost junior starting quarterback Will Santiago to a broken arm last week against Barrington. Tietjens, a senior, rose to the occasion, completing 20-of-34 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, but four interceptions proved costly. Wide receiver Ryan Donnelly made 10 catches for 170 yards and two TDs.
“We always felt like we were in the game,” Donnelly said. “We just put it all out on the field and we came up short. I’m really proud of the guys and the season we’ve had. It’s been a fun season.”
The Blue Devils led 10-7 at halftime, then the third quarter began with a strange twist of fate. Warren took the kickoff, ran three plays and went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 44-yard line. The Blue Devils got the first down on a QB sneak but were called for illegal procedure. So on fourth-and-6, they decided to punt.
The return was dropped and Vines-Peterson jumped on the loose ball at the Palatine 19-yard line, setting up a 1-yard run by Aaron Stewart to make it 17-7.
Warren’s run game asserted itself a few minutes later. The Blue Devils went 75 yards in three runs plays — Stewart for 20, Justice Humphreys for 33, then Stewart for a 22-yard TD and Warren led 24-7 as the third quarter ended.
Stewart, who carried the ball 45 times against Libertyville last week, had a relatively light workload in this one, finishing with 200 yards on 33 carries.
“He’s awesome,” Warren coach Bryan McNulty said of Stewart. “He’s a 1,500-pound lifter, a 500-pound squatter, so him breaking tackles there doesn’t really surprise me. That’s kind of who he is. We told him on that last drive we needed him to get it done.”
Palatine (8-2) kicked a short field goal, recovered an onside kick and closed within 24-17 with 5:12 left on a 15-yard pass to Donnelly.
The Pirates forced a punt and got the ball back, but Warren’s Antonio Moore snared his second interception of the night on the first play. Stewart scored on a 15-yard run and the Blue Devils seemed to have the game in hand up 31-17 with 1:35 left.
Tietjens led Palatine on a quick 68-yard scoring drive. He found Donnelly for 17 and 18 yards, then a 21-yard TD pass when the ball was knocked out of his hands just after crossing the goal line. So the Pirates were within a touchdown with 30.8 seconds left and kicker Alek Huyser delivered his second successful onside kick, recovered by Donnelly. Tietjens ran for 16 yards to the Warren 25, but then a sack and spike set up the final toss into the end zone.
“I’m proud of (Tietjens), tough situation,” Palatine coach Corey Olson said. “He spent the better part of two years playing safety. It’s tough for any kid to take on that kind of pressure. What we talked about was go out and turn it loose, and he did. That’s how I’ll remember this football team is never giving up. They never gave up for a second.”