Plainfield South gets picky to stop Minooka
By Tina Akouris takouris@suntimes.com September 29, 2012 12:34AM
Plainfield South safety Joshua Harris intercepted what would have been the winning touchdown in the end zone with five seconds to play in the game.
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Plainfield South safety Joshua Harris intercepted what would have been the winning touchdown in the end zone with five seconds to play in the game.
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Updated: November 1, 2012 6:29AM
Plainfield South safety Joshua Harris had to keep it together with about 10 seconds to play in the Cougars’ game against Southwest Prairie conference foe Minooka Friday in Plainfield. The Cougars clung to a four-point lead and the Indians were driving on the South 20-yard line.
But Minooka quarterback Joe Carnagio threw a pass right into Harris’ chest while the junior was standing in the end zone, and the Cougars went on to win the Battle of Ridge Road 14-10. Carnagio’s pass was intended for Maxwell Brozovich and it was Carnagio’s second end zone pick of the night.
“The whole game I saw them coming up the middle and my team did a good job telling me, so when they threw it over the middle I saw it coming and I was watching (Carnagio’s) eyes the whole time,” Harris said. “I knew there were only five seconds left, so I just picked the ball off and I was trying to run around to run the clock out.”
Minooka took a short-lived 10-7 lead with 3:34 to play in the third quarter, when kicker Jacob Stytz kicked a 41-yard field goal.
But Plainfield South responded on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Johnathan Kosirog scored on a six-yard run to make it 14-10 Cougars.
Plainfield South quarterback Ricky Luna took a face mask to his right shin at the 8:20 mark of the third quarter, and gave way to backup Kody Voda. On Voda’s first snap, his handoff to Harris resulted in a fumble and the Indians recovered. Luna returned on the Cougars’ next possession.
Minooka (2-4, 2-2) tied the score at seven at the 7:04 mark in the second quarter when Brozovich scored from eight yards out.
Brozovich’s second touchdown, a 61-yard run with 10 minutes remaining in the game, was negated by a holding penalty on the Indians.
But the Indians could have been up by more if Carnagio hadn’t been picked off in the end zone on Minooka’s previous possession.
Carnagio, taking the Indians on a slow march downfield from their own 18, brought Minooka to the Plainfield South five-yard line. Nathan Gunn’s carry was stalled at the five, then Carnagio was sacked for a loss of two and on third down was picked off in the end zone by Cougars safety Tyler Butler.
The Cougars (3-3, 2-2) got on the board first when Clifton Garrett scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 5:07 to go in the first quarter.
