Goal Line Stand Saves Win for the Shamrock
September 2, 2008

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. One play would decide who won the season opener between the Saint Patrick Shamrocks and the Proviso East Pirates. There was less than a minute on the clock, and the Pirates, trailing by a score of 17-13, faced fourth and goal from the Shamrocks’ one-yard line. The Pirates gave the ball to fullback Olajuwon Claiborne, who tried to bull his way through the line for the winning score. Claiborne was met by a swarm of Shamrocks, led by Adam Nitsche, who stopped him short of the end zone, preserving the win.

The Shamrocks showed their resilience, rallying from a 13-3 first half deficit with a pair of second half touchdowns.

The Shamrocks looked like they would dominate the game early. They took the opening kickoff, and marching 59 yards on 14 plays before getting on the board with a 24-yard field goal by Bill Ruehlmann.

The Shamrocks had an early lead, but the next two plays took all the wind out of their sails. The Pirate’s Antoine Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff for an 83-yard touchdown to give the Pirates a 7-3 lead. Ruben Ibarra returned the Pirates’ kickoff, fumbling at the Shamrocks’ 22 yard line, where Proviso East recovered.

The Shamrock defense held, getting the ball back on downs at their own eight yard line, seven plays later. The Shamrock offense got the ball out to their 24 yard line. On the first play of the second quarter, quarterback Dan DiCanio pitched a ball behind Patrick Nelson on a toss play. The ball eluded Nelson, bouncing towards the Shamrock goal line, where Proviso East’s Claiborne scooped it up for a touchdown. The Pirates now had 13 points on only 14 yards of offense.

Neither team got anything going offensively again until the Shamrocks drove 42 yards on 7 plays in the final minute of the first half. Ruehlmann attempted a 35 yard field goal as time expired, missing short and to the right. The Pirates took a 13-3 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Shamrocks showed that they weren’t going to give up without a fight, driving 65 yards on nine plays for a touchdown. Nitsche capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to make it 13-3.

Despite a personal foul call, which gave the Pirates a first down, the Shamrocks forced Proviso East to punt on fourth and four from their own 36. The snap to punter Odis Richmond was low and left, and by the time Richmond got a handle on it, he was easily tackled by the Shamrocks’ Ryan Syzmonik at the Pirate 14.

Five plays later, Matt Dawson took a pitch from DiCanio around right end for a touchdown, giving the Shamrocks a 17-13 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

P.J. Whalen recorded his second interception of the game, picking off a William Crowder pass at the Pirates’ 36 on the next play from scrimmage. Set up with a short field, the Shamrock offense was unable to capitalize, going three and out.

The Pirate offense took over, and moved the ball to their 49 yard line, where they face a fourth and one. The Pirate line jumped early, drawing a false start penalty and giving them a fourth and six from their own 44. Crowder dropped to pass and failing to find an open receiver, he began to scramble. Crowder was tracked down at the Pirate 33, and when the ball popped out of Crowder’s hand, Tom Vitzileos was there to grab it.

Following another three and out by the Shamrock offense, the Pirates got the ball at their own 32, with six minutes left to play. On the strength of two Crowder to Corey Cooper completions and a pass interference penalty, the Pirates had the ball first and goal at the Shamrock 7. Two rushes by Darnell Swanigan netted one yard, before Crowder hit Cooper in the right flat. Cooper eluded one defender and dove for the pylon, but he was ruled out of bounds at the one-yard-line, setting up the dramatic finish.

The Shamrock defense held the Pirates to a total of 90 yards of offense, with 67 of it coming on the final drive. Michael Labek led Shamrock defenders with nine tackles and two tackles for loss. Whalen tallied six tackles to go with his two interceptions, and Conor Joyce and Nitsche each added four tackles.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Shamrocks unveiled a new balanced option attack. Nelson led the Shamrocks with 38 yards on five rushes, while Ibarra gained 24 yards on six carries and Nitsche totaled 24 yards on 10 attempts. DiCanio completed four of 12 passes for 67 yards.

The Shamrocks head north to take on the Trevians of New Trier next Friday night in their final non-conference game of the season.