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ELMHURST -- St. Edward players and coaches saw it as confirmation rather than a coronation.
A Green Wave football program still without a state playoff victory and only one playoff berth the previous quarter century, charged to a 40-15 second-half lead Saturday over defending state Class 2A champion Immaculate Conception, then hung on through anxious moments for a 46-38 victory to go 3-0 on the year.
(Mary Beth Nolan/For The Courier-News)
PHOTO GALLERY
• Green Wave win
"This was 'It's time to put that rebuilding word to sleep,' " coach Mike Rolando said about the opening Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division win. "I told the boys 'You're not going to hear that rebuilding word anymore.'
"This is a formidable program. We expect to sustain it."
The Green Wave sustained a balanced offense from the outset Saturday to finish with 512 yards with nary a punt, but IC -- ranked second in the 3A state poll -- scored 31 fourth-quarter points to turn it into a contest.
Nick Scholly recovered two onside kicks in the final six minutes for the Green Wave and quarterback Ben Lehman threw for three touchdowns and 214 yards, but no completions were bigger than his third-and-five toss for 12 yards to Sam Pozezinski that let St. Edward kill off the clock.
"We came into the game figuring it would be a pretty low-scoring game," said Lehman, who completed 13 of 19. "We came in right off the bat scoring touchdowns."
Throwing an assortment of fade routes and jump balls early to 6-foot-7 wide receiver Zack Von Ahnen, Lehman was able to hurt IC (1-2, 0-1) through the air and set up the running of David Hoebbel and Jordan Torres. Each back rushed for 105 yards.
"The first two games there was a lot of running attack and I think today the receivers really stepped up and the line did a great job blocking so we could score a lot of touchdowns," Lehman said.
St. Edward led 14-0 after a quarter on Von Ahnen's 8-yard TD catch on a jump ball and Lehman's 9-yard TD run. By halftime, the lead hit 26-7 after Torres broke a 58-yard run off right tackle and Von Ahnen took advantage of yet another height mismatch for a 17-yard TD pass.
"All week we had been working on that jump ball," Von Ahnen said. "We knew their corners were small. We expected for me to draw a double team and open up the middle of the field for the big guy, Jordan, and David Hoebbel to run."
St. Edward's running game took control in the second half and Pozezinski then caught a 21-yard TD pass from Lehman for a 32-7 lead with 11:12 left in the game.
After Kyle Sirvanovic caught his second TD pass of the game -- a 63-yard pass from Will Cronin, St. Edward seemed to have complete command as it marched to Hoebbel's 5-yard TD with 7:50 left for a 40-15 lead.
But Cronin had just begun to pass. He wound up with 414 yards passing on 16 of 28, including a 78-yarder to Steve Maloney and a 44-yarder to Sirvanovic, sandwiched around a safety -- within a span of one minute and three seconds -- to cut the Wave lead to 40-30.
However, Hoebbel broke a 26-yard TD run for a 46-30 lead and the Wave's lead never got to one score until Maloney caught a 45-yard TD bomb on fourth-and-18 with 2:19 left and Conor Hendricks converted a two-point PAT run. But the Wave was able to run out the clock after Lehman's big third-down completion.
"Will Cronin had an unbelievable day," Rolando said. "But we've got to find a way to play some pass defense, stay out of those situations.
"Luckily the offense picked it up and we were able to score enough points to keep us out front in this one. We don't expect the defense to give up this many points in crucial situations like that."
