Edwardsville comeback stuns Huntley
There were shock waves reverberating around Red Raider Stadium in Huntley Friday night.
Visiting and 24th-seeded Edwardsville stunned No. 8 seed Huntley 42-38 in first round action of the Class 8A playoffs.
Edwardsville (7-3), winners of 7 straight, will play the winner of Saturday's South Elgin-Palatine contest in the second round.
The Red Raiders end their season at 8-2.
"Losing like this in the playoffs really hurts," said Huntley coach Matt Zimzolak. "I am very proud of these kids and the togetherness they formed. I wish I could coach them for four more years. The seniors will be greatly missed. Football is bigger than one loss. We had a great season."
The Red Raiders seemed to be in good shape to advance to the second round when Eric Mooney scored on a 6-yard run with 11:20 remaining to give the hosts a 38-28 advantage.
But Edwardsville didn't quit and scored 2 touchdowns during a 1 minute and 3 second span to pull out the come-from behind victory.
Quarterback Kendall Abdur-Rahman scored from 1 yard out with 6:26 left to cut the 38-35.
On the first play after the Tiger touchdown, the Red Raiders fumbled which was recovered by Owen Davis at the Huntley 22. Edwardsville needed only two plays to score when Abdur-Rahman raced 16 yards for the winning score with 5:23 left.
Mooney, in his final game as a Red Raider, posted incredible numbers. Accounting for 481 yards of total offense, Mooney completed 18-of-35 passes for 278 yards and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Antonsen.
Mooney, who scored on TD runs of 47, 1, 6 and 6 yards, rushed for 203 yards on 36 carries.
"Mooney is an incredible, incredible. gifted player," glowed Edwardsville coach Matt Martin. "He can do so many things on the football field and he is an incredible competitor. We tackled him better in the second half but he is a very good player and Huntley is a very good team. Grateful to come here and get the win."
Abdur-Rahman almost matched his counterpart. The Edwardsville junior signal caller accounted for 351 yards of total offense. He ran for 157 yards on 12 carries and scored 3 times on runs of 84, 1 and 16 yards.
Abdur-Rahman completed 8-of-15 passes for 194 yards and 2 TDs. He tossed a 32-yard TD to Joe King and an 84-yarder to RJ Wilson.
"Kendall typifies this team," said Martin. "He got beat up pretty good but never gave up."
Brian O' Mara was Mooney's top target with 7 catches for 109 yards while Antonsen snared 5 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.