Glock helps St. Francis knock off Prairie Ridge, reach quarterfinals
Bob McMillen knew he had a tough test in front of him.
With his St. Francis Spartans hosting Prairie Ridge, a predominant triple-option offense, McMillan knew his team had to win early downs and get an early lead to force the Wolves to play from behind.
“It’s hard to emulate an offense like that,” McMillen said. “It’s so fast, so dynamic, so explosive… Just how they use misdirection and hide the ball makes it very difficult.”
Despite falling behind on the game’s first drive, St. Francis built a halftime lead and its defense swarmed the Wolves after halftime in a 30-21 victory in the Class 5A second-round playoffs.
St. Francis (9-2) also got a surprise when Prairie Ridge quarterback Luke Vanderwiel suited up and started for the Wolves after not playing since Week 6 of the regular season.
Vanderwiel seemed like he didn’t miss a beat, putting Prairie Ridge ahead 7-0 with a 14-yard touchdown run on the Wolves’ first possession, his first of two rushing scores on the day. The junior signal caller finished the day with 135 yards on 26 carries.
“That’s a heck of a quarterback over there,” McMillen said of Vanderwiel. “We were a little surprised to see him out there, but I thought our defense made the adjustments, especially in the second half, and made them play behind the sticks a lot. We knew if we could get them behind the sticks and out of their game to throw the ball a bit, we’d like our chances.”
The Spartans answered Vanderwiel’s opening drive score immediately as Zach Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The Spartans added a Evan Kolinski field goal and 63-yard touchdown from Tanner Glock to build a 10-point advantage.
Jack Finn (89 rushing yards) brought Prairie Ridge back within four at halftime with a rushing score of his own just before the break.
“We knew today was going to be a grind,” said Glock, who also intercepted Vanderwiel’s only pass attempt of the day late in the fourth quarter. “[Prairie Ridge] is a good team, but I think we just did a good job of staying with the game plan and being physical.”
St. Francis scored on each of its first two offensive possessions to begin the second half as quarterback Brady Palmer found Dario Milivojevic (68-yard touchdown) and Glock (10 yards) for scores to pad the Spartans’ lead. Palmer finished the day completing 9-of-16 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns, while Glock led St. Francis with 92 yards receiving.
The plan was in place. The Spartans had their lead and Prairie Ridge continued to play behind the sticks, a challenge that the Wolves just couldn’t overcome Saturday afternoon.
“It was tough at first to be told I couldn’t play for the last 4-to-5 weeks,” Vanderwiel said. “I was glad I got to be back out there with these guys one last time. We made some mistakes and that’s on me. We had to change some things up because of [the score], but we had a great season and I love these guys.”
“I thought we had it going, but then lost our footing and never really got it back,” Prairie Ridge coach Michael Frericks said. “We just had a lot of mental mistakes today, that aren’t like us, and it put us in a bad spot, and the rest was history from there.”
Vanderwiel scored his second touchdown of the day on a 41-yard run to pull the Wolves within nine in the final minute of the third quarter, but neither team scored in the fourth quarter, allowing St. Francis to move on.
The Spartans will head on the road for the first time in this season’s playoffs next week, heading to face the No. 1 seed in Class 5A, Sycamore (11-0).