Mahomet-Seymour Falls in Double Overtime Thriller Against Highland
By FRED KRONER
High school football coaches – and their staffs – spend hours in advance of a game formulating a plan, studying tendencies and plotting formations.
Then, in the real time of a game, decisions must be made within seconds.
In a game where his Bulldogs led 20-0 in the first half, Mahomet-Seymour coach Jon Adkins faced multiple spur-of-the-moment calls in the second half of a game that required two overtimes before Highland sent M-S to its team bus following a 42-41 loss.
– In the first OT, the Bulldogs kept Highland out of the end zone. On its possession, M-S faced a fourth-and-3 call.
Adkins opted to send in his kicking team with specialist Jackson Davis attempting his first varsity field goal.
“It was blocked,” Adkins said, “but there was a penalty on the play. The kid who blocked it was offsides.”
After the penalty was marked off, the ball was placed 1 ½ yards from the end zone.
“I elected to send the offense out,” Adkins said. “It was my call.
“In hindsight, I probably should have let Jackson stay out there, but in the pre-game, the wind was pretty bad and he was struggling with his PATs.”
The Bulldog goal-line offense, named the Diesel Package for the power that special unit possesss, had already scored twice on runs by Brock VanDeveer.
“We felt good about the play, a bootleg with Luke (Dyer) throwing to Trey (Peters) in the back of the end zone,” Adkins said. “This was the first time they didn’t bite down and were in Lucas’ face and sacked him.”
– That forced a second overtime.
It was M-S’ turn to have the ball first and Cade Ashby slashed into the endzone lifting the visitors into a 41-34 lead,
It was time for another of those instantaneous decisions. Should Davis (who is 12-for-14 this year on extra point attempts) be summoned or should the team try to make a two-pointer?
“I was already thinking of going for two to put pressure on them (if they scored),” Adkins said. “They got an unsportsmanlike call (on the TD) and that moved the ball to the 1 ½-yard line.
“I said it was a no-brainer. We ran our favorite play in the Diesel Package.”
The Dyer handoff went to VanDeveer who was to follow blocker Kolton Metcalf-Poulos into the end zone.
“Their kid tackled Brock for a loss,” Adkins said.
The lead stood at 41-35 as Highland got the ball for its second OT possession.
The Bulldogs from Highland scored and put their trust in senior placekicker Rome Wallace.
His kick ended the game and was his ninth conversion in nine attempts through two games.
For all of the ‘what-ifs’ in the overtime sessions, there was another one in the final minute of regulation that went in M-S’ favor.
With 1 minute and 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Highland scored a touchdown that increased its 28-27 lead into a 35-27 margin.
In that moment, the touchdown was what Adkins had hoped would transpire.
“I was out of timeouts,” Adkins said. “They could have taken a knee, run the clock and we wouldn’t have had a chance (to get the ball back).”
In communicating with his defensive players, he asked them to do something they had never practiced and, he said, “probably never will.”
Said Adkins: “We needed them to score. It has to look like you’re getting blocked into the end zone. The kids executed it perfectly.”
M-S got the ball back, trailing 35-27, and – after a squib kick was returned to near midfield – went to work.
Dyer connected with Gavin Hammerschmidt for a long gain and then with Trey Peters for a 9-yard TD.
There was no question about the extra-point call. It had to be for a two-point conversion to create a tie.
The Dyer-to-Peters combination clocked again and the teams were tied, 35-35.
The overtimes didn’t play out like Adkins wanted, but he said, “I don’t regret one thing about that trip to Highland or the opportunity to play them,” he said. “What it did for us is it will make us better.
“It was a wakeup call. It showed some kids what it takes to win games. We have to practice harder, study harder and finish, do what it takes to make it happen.
“The guys that don’t wake up will get passed up (on the depth chart).”
Adkins has no shortage of areas to focus on this week in practice.
“It’s frustrating that we got a 20-point lead (20-0) and let it slip away,” he said. “It’s frustrating that we had a chance to win and didn’t get it done.
“We should be 2-0 right now. Instead, we’re 1-1 and back to the drawing board. We have to get better.”
Against Highland, Dyer completed 21 of 39 passes for 276 yards, raising his two-game season passing totals to 869.
Peters caught both of Dyer’s TD passes and had seven receptions for 147 yards. Hammerschmidt also hauled in seven passes and gained 91 yards.
Ashby and Wade Manuel each had two catches and Mason Orton caught one ball for 20 yards.
Ashby was the team’s top rusher for the second game in a row, netting 67 yards on 19 attempts. VanDeveer rumbled for 39 yards on six totes. Dyer had nine rushing yards.
Defensively, VanDeveer led the way with 13 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Ethan Esker had nine tackles and Brayden Garrett had eight stops. Trailing them were Noah Frank (seven tackles), Jayvon Tompkins (seven tackles), Henry Wagner (six tackles), Beau Back (five tackles) and Connor Wilson (five tackles).
One week after Tompkins (a freshman) made his first varsity start at noseguard, Back (a sophomore) made his first varsity start on the defensive line.
“Although our offense is pretty experienced, we are incredibly young on defense,” Adkins said. “They haven’t experienced JV ball or how to study a game film. They are new at understanding a game plan.”
The Bulldogs return home Friday to face Sycamore (2-0) at Frank Dutton Field.
“They have Division I talent all over the field and historically are one of the best 5A teams in the state,” Adkins said. “If we want our program to be where our goals are, these are the games we need to schedule.
“They have been in the state semis two of the last three years. That’s what I want for our program. We are trying to get to where they’ve been.”
Sycamore’s wins are 35-28 over DeKalb and 15-9 over Oswego East.
