Plainfield North pulls off miracle rally to topple Minooka

MINOOKA – Over the first 41 minutes of Friday night’s game there was very little that distinguished this was same the Plainfield North squad which had been a juggernaut over its first six games.

But over the final seven minutes, everyone got a very stern reminder. Plainfield North rallied for a stunning 22-21 Southwest Prairie Conference victory.

After it looked like all hope was lost when Minooka’s Connor Christensen intercepted a Plainfield North pass with 7:06 to play, the Tigers (7-0, 3-0) finally shifted into high-octane mode.

A quick three-and-out by the defense forced a Minooka (5-2, 2-1) punt deep its own territory. Rather than risk a potential block, Minooka took an intentional safety to allow Plainfield North to close to within 21-9.

Plainfield North got a good return after the safety and quickly marched down the field, capping the drive with a 11-yard touchdown reception from Sean Schlanser off a pass from Demir Ashiru with 3:54 to play, John St. Clair added the kick and Plainfield North had closed the gap to 21-16.

The Tigers still needed to get a quick stop, which didn’t look likely. Minooka managed to get Plainfield North to use all of its timeouts, but was unable able to get out of the drive unscathed

On a third-and-long running play, the Indians coughed up the ball. Suddenly, Plainfield North had possession with 1:50 left. In less than a minute, Ashiru had the Tigers on the doorstep after three consecutive completions.

St. Clair tried to power in from the 2-yard line but was only able to get 1 yard before Ashiru took care of business himself, scoring from the 1-yard line with 41.7 seconds to play. The two-point conversion failed, but Plainfield North had the only thing it needed: the lead.

Minooka ran four plays from scrimmage but couldn’t get the ball past its own 27-yard line, and Plainfield North had successfully pulled the rabbit out of its hat.

“In the beginning of the game we came in a little flat, we could all feel it, even if we didn’t want to admit it,” Ashiru said. “But it was definitely there. But we just talked and we figured it out. And as the coaches always say, will power and belief. And that’s what we did, we came together and we believed we were going to win.”

Based on the events of the first three quarters it was hard to believe that will power and belief could be found, but Plainfield North coach Anthony Imbordino cited his team’s first taste of adversity as being a contributor to his Tigers not quite performing as most expected.

“We didn’t play our best game, for sure,” Imbordino said. “But our kids answered some adversity after not really having it all year. It’s a good win for us. We were just a little flat coming out and it’s just not an easy place to play. And it’s good to get tested now, rather than later, gives us a chance to fix any holes in the boat.”

Minooka controlled the game for the first three quarters, largely due to its ability to break big plays.

After Plainfield North opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run from St. Clair, Minooka immediately countered with a 72-yard explosive run from Joey Partridge to tie the score.

In the second quarter, Gavin Dooley ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper to send Minooka into the half with a 14-7 lead.

Near the end of the third quarter, Christensen took a screen pass for a 51-yard gain which would set up a 1-yard from Partridge which at the time seemed to build an almost insurmountable 21-7 Minooka lead.

But those three big plays accounted for all but 75 of Minooka’s offensive yards in the game. The Indians couldn’t sustain drives. They ran a grand total of just nine plays in the first half.

“It’s disheartening,” Minooka coach Matt Harding said. “Defense was out there for 44 snaps in the first half but the defense was solid. Sometimes that’s just what happens.”