Final stop: Coal City gets past Peotone
By Tommy Stokke For Sun-Times Media October 27, 2012 2:02AM
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Player of the game
Coal City’s Brennan Shetina, who was 8-of-13 passing for 162 yards and had 25 yards on the ground, scored three touchdowns.
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Brennan Shetina stared out at the field, watching as his first high school playoff game rested on the shoulders of a defense that had struggled to stop Peotone.
For the first time all night, Shetina wasn’t in control. And it wasn’t easy.
“If I could’ve been out on ‘D’, I would’ve been,” the junior quarterback said.
The Coalers made the defensive play when they needed it most, stopping Peotone at the 1-yard line as time expired to preserve a 27-20 home win in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
“That’s why you don’t like playing a conference opponent for a second time in the playoffs,” Coal City coach Lenny Onsen said. “It’s never easy, and it’s hard to get that across to 17- and 18-year-old kids.”
The Coalers (9-1), who defeated Peotone 28-7 in Week 7, faced deficits of 6-0 and 12-7 in the first half, their lone score being a 30-yard touchdown pass from Shetina to Nick Peters and Lane Cowherd’s PAT.
After Peotone’s second touchdown, a 1-yard run by Joe Cowger, Onsen called a timeout, settling down his defense.
“They needed to be reminded that adversity is part of the game,” he said. “We were bickering at each other and that’s unacceptable. There’s a lot of outside pressure on these kids and they just have to remember to go out and play.”
The offense, led by Shetina (187 total yards, 3 touchdowns), backed up the defense with touchdowns on the first two drives in the second half.
Shetina found Cowherd in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard score. Later, a 46-yard pass to Peters set up a 1-yard Shetina touchdown run and a 20-12 lead with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter.
A Coal City fumble in its own territory set up a Peotone rushing score, and a 2-point conversion tied the game.
Mark Norton’s 3-yard run gave the Coalers the lead at 27-20 with 7:14 remaining.
Peotone drove to the 6-yard line with less than nine seconds remaining. Cowger was flipped in the air and stopped at the 1 as time expired.
“I was very confident,” Onsen said of his defense. “I can honestly say that. I just thought we would make a play. All fingers and toes were crossed, but I was confident.”
