Hoffman Estates finds new life in OT at Elk Grove
A Hoffman Estates team that played it hearts out had to go overtime before leaving host Elk Grove with its heart cut out.
In a game featuring 4 turnovers, 24 penalties for 172 yards and two classic goal line stands, it was Hoffman's goal-line stand that ended this season opener when Femi Oginni, Arthur Robinson, Ramon Rodriguez and Co. ganged up to stuff the middle on fourth-and-1 in overtime on the last game's last play to deny Elk Grove's Charles Janczak the end zone on a quarterback sneak and preserve a 28-21 victory.
Hoffman had scored in overtime when it seemed most improbable, as quarterback Kyle Krogstad, after recovering a ball snapped over his head in the previous down, scrambled around long enough to allow Malik Whitehead (6 catches, 70 yards) to get open.
The irony was not lost on Hoffman coach Tim Heyse, who took his team to the Class 6A semifinals last year.
"We had a fourth down at the 15 and scored and they had a fourth down and 1 in overtime, and we stopped them. Kyle played awesome," he said of the game situation and his quarterback (14-for-23, 109 yards, a touchdown), who made plays when he had to.
Krogstad noted that even though his Hawks were trailing a team at halftime they had beaten by 42 last year, there was no panic in the halftime meeting, and no real changes except the concentration needed to rebound.
"At halftime we were losing," he said, "but we knew we were still in there. We were ready to go," and showed it in a second half-opening 12-play, 68-yard drive that ate almost half the quarter.
Without scoring. That was Elk Grove's goal line-stand moment, and it preserved a 14-6 lead when Krogstad was forced into a poor throw by the Elk Grove pass rush.
Confident now though, Hoffman scored on its next two possessions, both of which started in Elk Grove territory thanks to the defense keeping Elk Grove pinned.
"The defense just kept picking us up," Krogstad said.
Except for one play in the second half, when Janczak popped a read-option up the middle for a 44-yard TD after a Hoffman penalty, one of 17 it committed, kept the possession alive.
Otherwise, "Our offense kind of stalled in the second half," said Elk Grove coach Miles Osei, a former Mid-Suburban League standout himself. But they built a 14-6 lead on Janczak's picture-perfect 23-yard pass to Vinny Faciano and Ian Ridge's 4-yard run, and a ball-control execution that kept Krogstad and friends off the field.
Hoffman grabbed it back on Krogstad's beautiful pass over the middle to Jordan Lane and his 6-yarder to Whitehead, who just made clutch catch after clutch catch.
"Malik had a great game," said Heyse.
Matched by Elk Grove counterpart Faciano, who 3 catches for 70 yards and TD.
Heyse came away though knowing his team has work to do. "We've got a lot of cleaning up to do," he noted after the penalties and turnovers, plus dropped passes that could've been TDs.
But Mehki Williams, who had one of the fumbles, atoned with 12 carries for 49 yards and a score.
Osei, meanwhile, is out to "change the culture," as he put it, at Elk Grove, which has lost its last 20 games. He's confident it will happen. "These kids are working phenomenally hard. We're proud of the effort."
"They're much improved," Heyse said of the Grens, before noting of his own team's work to: "It's mental, all mental," the focus they need, especially if they want to get back to the playoff semifinals."