ELGIN — EPPJ would let nothing stand in the way of securing their second victory Friday night. Not the rain, not the mud and definitely not the hard-fighting CWC Renegades.
Trailing in the fourth quarter, EPPJ scored to send the game into overtime, then won it with a touchdown and a defensive stand to win 28 to 26.
Junior Joseph McNally gave the Wolfpack the lead with a five-yard run in overtime. He went left and followed blocks by Brayden Burenheide and Gavin Kallhoff into the endzone for the biggest touchdown of his career. Then, on the two point conversion, Evin Pelster went up the middle to score.
“Joe was patient, waited for his blockers, then just kicked it out at the right moment,” Co-Coach Nick Heithoff said about EPPJ’s touchdown in overtime.
McNally called out his linemen for leading the way to the winning touchdown. “Justice (Blecher), Jayvin (Erickson) and Brayden (Burenheide) created the biggest hole in my life there,” he said. He said he wasn’t not going to let the team down.
Then it was the Renegades’ turn to have the ball. Carter Metschke scored on a one yard plunge, on fourth down, to pull CWC within two 28 to 26.
Having to go for the two-point conversion to tie the game and send it into a second overtime, CWC kept the ball in the hands of Metschke. As he lunged towards the endzone, Jayvin Erickson knocked the ball out of Metschke’s hands. CWC fell on the ball short of the endzone.
The results of the final play set off a wild celebration on the field and in the student section as cheers could be heard blocks away.
“Our lines played very well,” Heithoff said after the game. “We were able to push them around a little bit … In overtime, it was either fullback trap or option iso. That’s the only calls coming off my play sheet right now and the line accepted that challenge and they were able to run it right down there.”
Trailing 20 to 12 with time running out in the fourth quarter, it didn’t look good for the Wolfpack. They started on their own 18 yard line with a determination that they would not be denied. The first two plays gained just eight yards. The third play would change everything. Kallhoff took a handoff from Michael Selting and went 24 yards before being tackled. Three plays later, Kallhoff lit up the scoreboard with a 19-yard run, shedding two CWC tacklers en route to the endzone.
“I knew I was gonna have to just lower my shoulder, hold onto the ball and try my best. The line really helped out. They had amazing blocks,” Kallhoff said. On the run, Kallhoff broke several tackles before reaching the endzone.
….see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
