O’Brien: St. Laurence stands tall in final minutes to take down Lemont

St. Laurence’s season came down to four plays. Undefeated Lemont had found some offensive firepower late in the game and all of the momentum was on their side. The Indians had the ball on the Vikings’ 11 and trailed by just seven points with under two minutes to play.

“Just play the best four downs of your life, that you’ve ever played,” St. Laurence defensive back Jimmy Burnette said. ”Don’t let up, play for everyone on the sidelines, play for everyone in the stands.”

The Vikings stuffed a run on first down and then forced three consecutive incomplete passes to seal the win. St. Laurence’s defensive backfield was impressive throughout the game and the group stood firm at the end, helping the Vikings to a 27-20 win against Lemont in a Class 6A state quarterfinal game on Saturday in Burbank.

“It feels great but we aren’t done,” Burnette said. “We’ve been here before. Everyone knows what happened last year. We are confident we can finish the job this year.”

The Vikings lost in the state semifinals last season. Despite that success they were an underdog on Saturday. Lemont featured one of the area’s best defenses. The Indians (11-1) entered allowing an average of just nine points per game and had shut out three teams.

St. Laurence had to settle for a pair of field goals early, but started having some offensive success late in the second quarter. Vikings quarterback Romello Washington connected with senior Levy Hammer for a 34-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-3 with 2:10 to play in the first half.

The Vikings have a special running game, spearheaded by by senior running back Fayezon Smart. He had 35 carries for 161 yards and one touchdown.

“I never got tired,” Smart said. “Coach said the holes are gonna open, just get four yards. Get more if you can. They were biting on the inside run plays. This was a hard-hitting team so we knew we had to run to the outside. We were able to get to the outside and get up field.”

Washington finished 10-for-18 for 165 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Hammer had three receptions for 59 yards.

St. Laurence (9-3) appeared to be pulling away after Washington connected with Hammer for another touchdown pass with 5:49 left in the third quarter. But Lemont scored on a 10-yard touchdown run from Jake Kirkman on the next drive and then kicked a field goal in the third quarter to trim the Vikings’ lead to seven.

Lemont quarterback Spencer Nagel was 21-for-38 for 205 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. The Indians struggled on the ground. Junior Anthony Martin was their leading rusher with nine carries for 28 yards.

“They are a good team, they were undefeated for a reason,” Burnette, who is headed to Illinois on a baseball scholarship, said. “We knew they were going to get their big plays but it was how we responded to them that mattered.”

St. Laurence will travel to Springfield to face Sacred Heart-Griffin in the semifinals next week.

“We’ve been here before and we aren’t satisfied yet,” Smart said. “We need to get to the state championship game.”