This one didn’t come easy for Jackson Failla and Nazareth.
The three-time defending Class 5A champions, playing up in 6A this season, fell behind by two scores early against visiting Lake Zurich in a quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon and were still down by 12 with under three minutes remaining.
Failla, the Roadrunners’ starting quarterback, was replaced for a fourth-quarter series that went nowhere.
But he went back in with 3:27 remaining and led Nazareth on two scoring drives that produced a wild 24-21 win.
The Roadrunners (10-1) host Fenwick (9-3), which beat Burlington Central 49-21, in the semifinals next weekend.
“I was struggling early on and I just wasn’t ready to quit, and neither was anybody else,” Failla said. “And we really just came together and we believed in each other and we made it happen.”
Nazareth burned all three of its timeouts on defense in the fourth quarter to preserve some time for the offense.
After throwing a pair of incompletions, Failla hit three straight passes, the last a seven-yard TD to Charles Calhoun with 2:36 remaining to pull Nazareth within 21-16.
An onside kick boomeranged off one of Lake Zurich’s up men and Cash Coleman recovered for Nazareth at its own 48. Six players later, Failla found Trenton Walker for a 15-yard score and the Roadrunners had their first lead of the game with 1:23 remaining.
Lake Zurich (9-3) turned it over on downs with 47 seconds left and Nazareth ran out the clock.
“I guess there was some doubt in my mind,” Failla said. “But everyone kept believing in me. And to be able to do that with everybody else, it was just awesome.”
Walker, one of the state’s top uncommitted seniors, had six catches for 75 yards, all after halftime. Failla finished 12-of-25 passing for 145 yards with one interception. Justin Watson had 13 carries for 74 yards and Nazareth’s first touchdown.
“I went over to my sideline when I heard it was a little bit down and I told my team that we had to pick it up because this game’s not over yet,” Walker said. “… I just told my quarterback, Jackson, that he could trust me in the late stretch.”
“Their game plan, both offensively and defensively, was incredible,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said of Lake Zurich. “They slowed us down, the most we’ve been slowed down all year.”
Are the Roadrunners feeling any pressure with the state-title streak?
“It sure seemed like that this first half,” Racki said. “I thought we were filled with a little too much anxiety and focusing on the outcome instead of the process. That’s what I said at halftime — that’s what gets you in trouble.”
Lake Zurich led 14-0 on a pair of long touchdown runs, a 69-yarder by Kaden Abrantes and a 45-yarder by Christopher Chang. Brock Rubicz’s three-yard TD run made it 21-9 Bears 45 seconds before halftime. Abrantes finished with 128 yards on 22 carries.
“I’m happy with the way the whole team played,” Lake Zurich coach Ron Planz said, “Offense, defense, even special teams. … One thing that’s different, [we’re] different types of programs. We’re a community program. Our kids love [having] Lake Zurich across their chest and they live it and breathe it. The fans that come out for it, that’s who we play for. We play for our community. …
“Not to take anything away from Naz. Naz is an unbelievable football team.”