Hinsdale Central rally stuns unbeaten York

ELMHURST, Ill.- When down 23-7 in the fourth quarter and having been shut out in both the second and third quarters, it'd be easy for some people to have doubt in their team.

Not Hinsdale Central coach Brian Griffin.

"Never any doubt, especially with these guys," he said.

His squad rewarded him for his faith, rallying for 20 points in the fourth quarter to take down previously unbeaten York 27-23 in Elmhurst.

The win pulls the Red Devils into the conference lead, as they now carry a 6-1 overall and 4-o West Suburban Silver record. The win drops York to 6-1, 4-1.

“That is one hell of a football team that we beat. They had shut everybody out, and their defense is incredible,” Griffin said. “We kept telling our kids to keep believing in each other, next guy up. We had kids coming in and out of the game, it’s not just one kid.

"That's how a conference championship type of game should be."

The Dukes' calling card this season has been their stout defense, one that hadn't given up more than 10 points in a game and had outscored their opponents 201-34 through six games.

It was evident why as after Hinsdale Central's Nicholas Fahy scored on the game's first possession, the Dukes held the visitors scoreless for the game's next 35 minutes.

"Our defense has played great all year and I think they woke up after that," York coach Mike Fitzgerald said. "I was proud, our guys bounced back. They (Hinsdale Central) kind of took the momentum early but then our guys surged back and we controlled the tempo of the game until the fourth quarter when we slowly let it slip away."

It was the Red Devils' defense, however, that really stood tall when needed.

After allowing York to score on the first drive of the second half, Hinsdale Central's defense held its ground, not allowing the home squad to score another point, including putting an exclamation point on the night when an interception by Joe Boggs set up the game-winning touchdown scored by Sean Allison with 1:32 remaining.

"Everyone was doing their keys, I saw Allison calling the in route, I'm right there, I'm looking at him, I turn my head, go to hit him, the ball comes to me, catch it and take off," Boggs said.

"We're not losing. We're winning conference and going as far as we want to go, there's no stopping here."

"Getting them down at their own 10-yard line with a punt, our defense felt like they could stop them and get the ball to our offense with some good field position," Allison said.

"At halftime, we changed up some of our coverages, our schemes because we were getting a little burnt. We switched up some coverages in trips formation and they weren't able to get many passing yards on us in the second half."

The interception came as York was trying to milk the clock but Boggs stepped in front of a Matt Vezza pass, taking it all the way back to the 4-yard line.

"We were trying to milk as much clock as possible, slow the tempo of the game and that probably got us out of rhythm," Fitzgerald said. "It's just one of those things where we have to take care of the football. We've got to do a better job in that situation and that starts with me."

Despite the late interception, Vezza had himself a night, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a two-yard score as well. His two touchdown passes, a 28-yard touchdown strike to Kelly Watson and an eight-yard connection with Anthony Menolascino were why his squad was in position to win the game.

After struggling for the majority of the game, Hinsdale Central's offense picked up the pace, scoring on a Thomas Skona one-yard plunge with just over nine minutes remaining and a 20-yard touchdown completion to Carter Contreras with just over four minutes to go.

Hinsdale Central's got two conference games left - against Proviso West and Glenbard West - and knows that it can't celebrate the win too long.

"We're going to get back in the training tomorrow, get the weights going and hunt for G(lenbard) West," Allison said. "We've got Proviso West, don't take them lightly, but G West is our next target for sure."