The 7A state football championship came down to the final second, but it ended like it started for Lincoln-Way East and quarterback Tom Fuessel. He was battered by the tough Glenbard West defense to end the game.
His counterpart—Henry Haeffner—completed 10-of-13 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown in Glenbard West’s 10-8 victory over Lincoln-Way East. Haeffner stole the offensive spotlight in the title game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.
Haeffner threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Nathan Marcus with 2:30 left in the first quarter. Hayden Lekacz added a 27-yard field goal as the Hilltoppers (14-0) extended their lead to 10-0 at halftime.
See a full box score for statistics and drive summaries on IHSA.
Glenbard West turned to its defense to bottle up Lincoln-Way East's Tom Fuessel as the Hilltoppers wrapped up their first state championship since 1983 and handed Lincoln-Way East (13-1) its first defeat.
Fuessel, a Northern Illinois University recruit, spent much of the game running for his life. He was harrassed into a 3-for-14 passing performance for 51 yards. And he was unable to squirt outside of the pocket in scramble situations.
Fuessel was limited to 17 yards rushing on 21 carries. He was sacked five times for losses totaling 30 yards.
"Well, he's the best player in the state of Illinois, based on the film I've watched," Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "I've seen some very good players. We've played against some very good players. But as far as an offensive weapon, I think he's got to be the best in the state.
"And, no, we don't change. We've been pretty good defensively. A sound defense is going to beat a great player. And those kids believe in that. They're going to play sound defense. He's going to make his plays.
"We just knew when he dropped back to pass that's when he's the most dangerous on his scrambles. We had to keep him in front of us and just be relentless in our pursuit and stay true in our coverage behind."
Lincoln-Way East closed to within 10-6 on a 35-yard touchdown run by Justin Corbett in the third quarter. The Griffins' defense forced three turnovers, including two second-half fumbles, and put East in position to pull out the victory in the waning moments.
Kyle Langenderfer's fumble recovery set up East with a first-and-10 on the Glenbard West 47 with 5:25 remaining. The Griffins moved to a fourth-and-10 on the 13.
Fuessel looked toward his tight end, then scrambled right. He raced toward the sideline and was rocked by Glenbard West's Hayden Carlson on a head-over-heels hit that knocked both players silly. Fuessel was stopped at the 6—3 yards short of the first down and 6 yards short of a winning touchdown.
"He's a winner—a champion," Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said of Fuessel. "That's how he's been all year. That's how he played (against Glenbard West). Coming up 1 yard short on a play at the goal line doesn't tarnish the season. We're disappointed. It hurts (now).
"But Tom Fuessel's a champion—as well as the rest of the guys in this senior class and the rest of his teammates."
Glenbard West took over after Fuessel was stopped short with 3:35 left. The Hilltoppers ran the ball three times. Then, Haeffner purposely ran out of the back of the end zone and took a safety.
The Hilltoppers kicked the ball back to Lincoln-Way East clinging to a 10-8 lead. Lekacz's kick went out of bounds and the ball was spotted on the Hilltopper 45 with 23 seconds left.
Fuessel threw two incomplete passes and was sacked and knocked out of the game by Marcus. The game ended with Fuessel's cousin, Brett, taking the final snap for the Griffins. He was flushed from the pocket and pulled down by Glenbard West's Ruben Dunbar after a 2-yard gain.
"Heartache and disappointment are part of athletics," Zvonar said. "But the sun's going to come up tomorrow. God still loves us. And I think my wife and kids will too. These guys are champions. And we love them."
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Wait till next year again.
Let not forget the IHSA officials who did nothing... to protect #18 while in an obviously vulnerable condition. You need to remember a kid like #18 will never take himself out of that game, until the IHSA officials are on par with standards like NCAA and the NFL, the coaches will leave it unfortunately up to the players...
Out Coached? Tommy scores on that last drive ---- LWE wins, but a great play stopped him. Right? Two great teams, with great individual players--- including Tommy as a great QB, and great coaching staffs. Stop the critical comments and complment these two great teams on a tremendous season------- the only sad part is one had to lose. To the GBW team, coaches, fans---- Congrats! To my LWE Team, coaches------- Congrats and Thank You for your hard work, personal sacrifices. I am proud of you all!!! Happy Holiday Season-- on to wrestling and basketball! Father of an LWE Player
1) Why does Zvonar leave in an obviously dazed and hurt player? The GW Defense put an end to a great athletic season by punishing the QB time after time. LWE had no answer for it and it looked sad to allow him to continue on to take a beating with no changes in plans . The GW Defense played incredible all day and layed hits ( one illegal) on Fuessel that took that spark and quickness away from him. It was obvious he did not want to carry the ball the entire 2nd half after getting hit so hard time after time. 2) Who " Fakes" two punts in a championship game with a " punter" 10 yards deep? 3) Why did no one take care of Fuessel as he lay devastated on the ground in agony after the game ? You would have thought they could have consoled him and not allowed that terrible and sad scene to happen. The kid gave his all and was just left alone to cry laying on the ground. LWE defense played Great but the Glenbard West Defense effort and scheme was superior from the Coaching, Planning , Effort.. something that LWE seemed very unprepared for in this game. It appeared the LWE coaches thought they could just roll out the football for Tom Fuessel and have him do the backyard type broken run plays to bail them out. Glenbard West hit and hit and hit and hit again and took the steam out of the LWE Plan. The LWE O Line also met their match as they could not run the ball and certainly failed to protect Fuessel on the biggest High School Stage.
115-24, never missed the Play-offs, one state chamionship, two appearances enough said little boys