CHAMPAIGN Tears and stunned expressions on one side. Unbridled jubilation on the other.
Close plays and close calls. Two tension-filled overtimes. A missed field goal and a record-setting field goal.
Saturday’s Class 7A championship game between Glenbard West and Wheaton Warrenville South had it all.
It was a classic game on the biggest stage at Memorial Stadium, and Wheaton Warrenville South held the championship trophy after outlasting the Hilltoppers 31-24 in two overtimes.
“This is just an incredible feeling,” said Tigers junior Matt Rogers, who scored from 1 yard out in the second OT to provide the game-winning score. “This was just an incredible game. They’re a great team, but we just hung in there and won it.”
The Tigers (13-1) watched their defense win it when Tyler Warden’s pass on fourth-and-goal from the 10 was overthrown. Warden’s pass on third-and-goal was much closer.
After Warden almost covered the width of the field on a scramble and barely avoided a sack, the ball left his fingertips and headed toward Nick Burrello in the end zone. Tigers free safety Caleb Bednarz barely deflected the ball.
“I just reached as high as I could and got it,” Bednarz said. “I bit on the run a little bit, and I was just lucky that I got a finger on it.”
