On the biggest stop of the game by Yorkville’s stout defense, senior linebacker Kyle Gettemy made the initial hit Friday night in the fourth overtime against visiting Moline.
His explanation of his role on the final play, a second straight stand at the 1-yard line?
“Fill your gap as hard as you can,” Gettemy said.
Junior running back Josh Gettemy, Kyle’s brother, also stepped up for injured starter Gio Zeman and scored all four of his team’s touchdowns in a wild 34-31 victory.
Josh breathed a sigh of relief when senior Hudson Fiene drilled a 35-yard extra-point kick into a stiff wind in the second OT of the Class 7A second-round playoff showdown.
“It was just me being dumb,” Josh said of his flipping the ball high in the air after hitting pay dirt on a 4-yard TD run and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
That pushed the PAT attempt back to the 18, but Fiene converted — earning himself some free food — before Yorkville (10-2) eventually prevailed in the fourth OT.
“I shouldn’t have done it,” Josh said. “I owe my kicker a dinner. We’re going somewhere nice.”
So are the Foxes, who advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1999 and will meet the winner of Saturday’s game between Hersey (10-0 and Batavia (7-3).
Fiene followed with field goals of 21 and 29 yards in the third and fourth OTs, the latter holding up for the win thanks to the subsequent defensive stand. And a blast to the past.
“The word of the week was ‘1999,’” said Kyle Gettemy, a first-year starter who came into the game with a team-high 56 tackles. “That’s the last time we’ve made it this far in the playoffs and the last time we had 10 wins.”
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Gettemy made his big tackle seem fairly simple, but it wasn’t.
He met running back Riley Fuller coming off left tackle for the Maroons (9-2) and was joined by sophomore defensive back Luke Zook on the stop.
Yorkville coach Dan McGuire wasn’t surprised Moline went for the win.
“It was becoming a battle of attrition,” McGuire said. “I can’t believe we stopped them, to be honest with you. Our defense is great, but for us to do that is unbelievable.”
McGuire gave credit to the players, defensive coordinator Tom Regnier and his coaching staff.
“They’re a run-first offense,” McGuire said of Moline. “It seems like every time, they’re falling forward for one or two yards.”
The strong wind blowing out of the south end zone transformed the game into a battle of field position.
Yorkville turned the ball over twice in the first half and Moline took advantage of a short field to score twice. It came after Josh Gettemy made a spectacular one-handed diving catch of an 8-yard TD pass from quarterback Michael Dopart.
Zeman, who entered the game needing 90 yards to reach 1,000 in rushing, had 65 yards on 14 carries before leaving late in the second quarter.
“Our message to the kids at halftime,” McGuire said, “was it’s not gonna get any worse and we were still in the game.”
Josh Gettemy took over for Zeman and ran 21 times for 107 yards.
“I’m used to playing with the bigger boys,” Josh said. “From my youth days, I always played with my brother’s teams.”
And what did his brother tell him at halftime?
“Keep running like a man,” Kyle said. “He runs like a grown-up, so I told him to do his thing. I’m hoping Gio is OK, but I’m confident with my brother in there, too.”
McGuire feels the same about the elder Gettemy.
“Kyle is really coming on strong and has been getting better and better,” McGuire said. “His work ethic in the weight room has him in great shape.”
