For eight weeks No. 4 Stevenson and No. 7 Warren could only eye each other warily, trying to ignore the impending significance of their season-ending showdown.
But the game of the year was unveiled Friday night in Gurnee with the North Suburban Lake title in the balance in this season’s only matchup of 8-0 teams. As a bonus, the winner likely would earn a top seed in the state playoffs.
So little separated these state-title contenders that Michael Morrissey’s block of an extra-point attempt in the second overtime proved the difference in Stevenson’s 35-34 victory before an estimated crowd of 7,000.
The drama began to build when Stevenson’s Paul Cartwright caught his first pass of the game for a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game 21-21 with 29 seconds left in regulation.
Michael Breckheimer (21 carries, 132 yards) scored on a 1-yard run in OT, and that was quickly matched by Warren on a 10-yard TD pass from Joe DeVries (16 of 27, 203 yards, three TDs) to Marcus Lewis. In double OT, Lewis again caught a 10-yard pass, his third TD catch. He finished with eight catches for 116 yards.
That’s when the Patriots’ Morrissey blocked the PAT kick of Jason Seveska.
“Jason Duboe lines up next to me, and he’s so fast Warren had to shift to block him,” Morrissey said. “I cut through the opening, got hit a little on the way in and blocked it. All week our coaches told us this game could come down to special teams.”
Carl Johnson scored on a 4-yard run–his third TD–and then watched Mitchell Rasmussen convert the winning PAT as Stevenson improved to 9-0, 6-0.
“That is a great Warren team over there, and I can’t tell you how much respect we have for them,” Morrissey said. “We’ll probably see them in two or three weeks in the playoffs.”
Warren (8-1, 5-1) drew first blood when a 20-yard DeVries pass to Matt Mose paved the way for Mitchell Moore’s 6-yard touchdown run. Retaliation was immediate as a 33-yard Breckheimer run led to Carl Johnson’s 8-yard TD run.
Stevenson quarterback Preston Earl’s first completion–midway through the second quarter–was a 40-yarder to Andrew Johnson. Carl Johnson followed Breckheimer’s breakout block for a 10-yard TD run.
Back came Warren with De-Vries completing a 14-yard pass to Marvin Bembry and a 20-yarder to Lewis. DeVries then hooked up with Lewis on a 37-yard TD pass and it was 14-14 at halftime. Warren went ahead 21-14 early in the fourth quarter on Moore’s 25-yard TD run.
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bsakamoto@tribune.com
