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No playoffs, but Wheeling shares East crown

Wheeling's playoff chances looked to be over when the Wildcats dropped to 0-5 with a loss at Rolling Meadows on Sept. 25. But consecutive wins over Prospect, Buffalo Grove and defending East champion Hersey brought Wheeling's playoff hopes back to life.

Wheeling needed a week 9 win combined with a Hersey victory over Rolling Meadows to clinch a playoff berth for the Wildcats for the first time since 2008.

Unfortunately for Wheeling, the dream scenario did not come true. The Wildcats (4-5, 4-1 MSL East) took care of what they could control, upending Elk Grove 57-21 to end the season on a four-game winning streak and become MSL East co-champions.

But Rolling Meadows defeated Hersey 26-21 to oust Wheeling from playoff contention. Rolling Meadows and Wheeling finished the season tied for first-place in the East at 4-1, but because the Mustangs defeated the Wildcats this season, Meadows received the MSL East's automatic berth for the playoffs.

"We just kept things rolling and we never lost hope [after starting 0-5]," junior Jason Shannon said. "After that Meadows game, we were down and we had two options: whether to quit or just step up and keep playing and that's what we chose. I wish we had another game or practice just to play with these guys again. The seniors taught us a lot and next year we have to come in and try to continue the trend we started this year."

"I think as the season went on, we started executing more and we started meeting with coaches way more and started doing a lot of extra stuff," Wheeling junior quarterback Jalen Dennis said. "Obviously it showed on the field, and lately our points have been increasing and we've just been executing and playing physical on both sides of the ball, and it just came down to guys communicating and executing and flying around and playing for each other."

Wheeling's 21-0 third quarter consisting of a Dennis 2-yard TD run and a pair of Draka TD scampers, from 1 and 80 yards out. The score went from 36-14 to 57-14 to start a running clock for the remainder of the contest with 1:35 left in the third quarter.

"I think our offense did pretty well all year. Tonight was another explosive effort by the offense," Wheeling coach Brent Pearlman said of his squad's 57-point output. "Dylan (Draka) and Josh (Diaz) really are just two great runners, and throw Jalen (Dennis), Jason (Shannon) Johnny (Kappel) and Charlie (Zettek) in there, and we really have some weapons that were able to get some things done. I think they played outstanding all year."

A 45-yard pass from Dennis to Dylan Draka set up a Dennis 1-yard keeper for a score, and a 61-yard touchdown reception by junior Jason Shannon gave the Wildcats a 12-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

A 15-yard touchdown run by Elk Grove senior running back Azeez Alabi trimmed Wheeling's lead to 12-7, but the second touchdown pass of the evening from Dennis to Shannon (39 yards) extended the Wildcats' advantage back up to two scores, 19-7.

Alabi's 65-yard touchdown run, his second of the contest, made it a one-score game again at 19-14 with 6:17 remaining in the second quarter before Diaz's 49-yard TD scamper 31 seconds later upped Wheeling's lead to two scores once more, 26-14.

"Alabi is a special football player," Elk Grove coach John Sigmund said. "He runs the football hard."

A Shannon interception gave Wheeling possession at Elk Grove's 40, and he then recorded a 35-yard catch to set up an 8-yard Draka touchdown reception to extend the Wildcats' advantage to 33-14. Wheeling's Mao Gurney recorded an interception and returned it to Elk Grove's 17 to set up a Johnny Quintero 35-yard field goal, which gave the Wildcats a 36-14 halftime advantage.

Wheeling held its opponents to 3 touchdowns or less in its four-game winning streak to end the season - this after allowing 46.4 points per game in its 0-5 start.

"We made some personnel changes defensively and I think those definitely helped," Pearlman said. "The credit for everything that changed goes to our kids. Our kids just came with a different attitude and chose to climb from the bottom. I could say a million things that we (the coaches) did, but nothing we did made the difference. This all came down to our guys. Our kids did it and our kids literally changed the way they saw things and did things. That really is the easiest explanation."

First-year Elk Grove coach John Sigmund was pleased with his squad's improvement from last year to this year. The Grens finish the season 2-7 overall and 2-3 in the MSL East after a winless campaign the year before.

"The senior group this year was phenomenal and amazing," Sigmund said. "I can't thank them enough for their sacrifice and hard work and success. I just told the kids they needed to start believing in themselves, that they're a great football team. Some of the scores didn't dictate that this year, but the way they fought week in and week out is an epitome of the community and school. These kids fight day in and day out and we'll get there. We're going to learn from this and we're going to make our adjustments in the off-season and I guarantee you we'll be back next year."

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