Kaneland's lovin' victory at Vernon Hills

You heard comments like, “I love you, man,” from one burly football player to another.

You heard comments like, “This is going to be remembered at our school ... forever,” from a proud coach to the joyful players huddled around him.

When you win a quarterfinal playoff football game by scoring the deciding touchdown with 9.8 seconds remaining, emotional words are bound to be flowing.

The Kaneland football team was swept up in them Saturday afternoon in the wake of its inspiring 27-21 Class 5A victory over host Vernon Hills.

The top-seeded Knights move to 12-0 and will face sixth-seeded Montini (10-2), a 24-10 winner over Marian Central, next weekend in the semifinals.

No. 4 Vernon Hills wraps up its season with a 10-2 record.

“I am so proud of our guys, our seniors, and especially our quarterback and what he did on that last drive,” Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly said. “I just can't say enough about it. We had some clutch plays today.”

Many of them came in the waning minutes.

The Knights had their backs to the wall, down by a touchdown with 2:29 left to play and 80 yards in front of them to the end zone.

But senior quarterback Joe Camiliere, who was the poster boy for composure throughout most of the game, calmly guided his team down field, one completed pass after another.

On fourth-and-3 at the Vernon Hills' 16-yard line with 30 seconds remaining, the Knights elected to stay with Camiliere instead of going for a field goal. Under heavy pressure, Camiliere found freshman receiver Daniel Helm for a clutch 6-yard reception that gave Kaneland a fresh set of downs. Helm caught the ball as he was falling down.

Two plays later, Camiliere came up with another big play under pressure, zipping a 10-yard pass into the arms of big, 6-foot-5 tight end Tyler Callaghan, who fell into end zone holding onto the ball extra tight.

The touchdown capped off an improbable 14-play, 80-yard scoring drive for the Knights.

It also prompted 6-foot-3 junior offensive linemen Ryan Noel to tell Callaghan “I love you, man,” as the postgame celebrations ensued.

“I was just trying to make a play and Joe (Camiliere) put the ball in the perfect spot,” said Callaghan, who caught a total of 5 passes for 42 yards. “It was ‘Go big or go home,' so I did everything I could to get that ball. When I came down with it, it was a celebration.

“We came up clutch. (Helm) is just a freshman and he came up big. Joe stepped up and made big plays. It seemed like whenever we needed a big play, we came up with one.”

It's no exaggeration.

Vernon Hills scored three touchdowns, and Kaneland scored on its very next possession after two of them.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Cougars cracked the scoreboard with a beautiful, 49-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Argianas to Notre Dame-bound DaVaris Daniels, who bobbled the ball but never lost focus as he outran a few defenders on his way to the end zone.

On the next possession, Kaneland marched 64-yards and nearly scored. But Camiliere threw an interception into the end zone from the Vernon Hills 10-yard line.

But he quickly made up for it just before the half. The Knights got the ball back with 1:24 left in the second quarter. Starting from his own 20-yard line, Camiliere guided Kaneland 80 yards and capped off the drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Quinn Buschbacher with just 10.8 ticks left on the clock.

The teams went into halftime tied 7-7.

“That was big,” Fedderly said of the Buschbacher touchdown. “We needed that (just before halftime).”

In the third quarter, the teams traded touchdowns twice, with Kaneland scoring right after Vernon Hills each time.

Vernon Hills running back Brian Palmer scored on a 21-yard run two minutes into the quarter and then Camiliere found Sean Carter for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

Then, Ohio State recruit Evan Spencer put Vernon Hills back in front (21-14) when he scored on a 1-yard run with 1:19 left in the quarter. Kaneland wasted no time with its counter. Camiliere hit Blake Serpa with a 33-yard touchdown pass less than a minute later.

Camiliere wound up connecting on 25 of his 38 attempts for 317 yards and 4 touchdowns. Serpa hauled in 6 passes for 87 yards while Carter caught 5 passes for 83 yards and Buschbacher finished with 5 catches for 65 yards.

Vernon Hills was also proficient in the passing game.

Argianas completed 10-of-17 passes for 160 yards. His favorite target was Spencer, who caught 8 passes for 124 yards. Daniels caught 3 passes for 70 yards and also rushed for 88 yards.

Palmer led Vernon Hills in rushing with 92 yards on 20 carries.

“This is really rough right now,” Daniels said. “This is probably the tightest team I've ever been a part of. We had big aspirations coming into the season and for it to end like this is really tough.

“(Kaneland) has a pretty good offense. You can't cover everybody. You can try and try, but they're a good passing team and they've got a lot of guys they can go to.”

Before Kaneland went on its winning drive, Vernon Hills was driving on the previous possession. The Cougars advanced the ball to the Kaneland 18-yard line with 2:34 left in the game but couldn't get any closer and then turned the ball over after a missed field goal attempt.

“We should have scored right there, but we just didn't make enough plays,” Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. “Hats off to them, though. They (Kaneland) put that drive together right at the end and that kid (Callaghan) made a heck of a play to score.

“This is hard right now. It's been such a great year, and such a fun ride. These guys have been so fun to coach. It hurts that we're not coming in tomorrow to meet and (get ready for next week).”