Sandburg takes down No. 2 Lincoln-Way East, clinches a share of its first conference title since 1995

For neutrals, it was a strange Thursday football game in Frankfort. For Sandburg’s players, fans and coaches, it wound up being one of the special moments of their lives.

The Eagles knocked off No. 2 Lincoln-Way East 21-13 to win their first share of a conference title since 1995.

“We never gave up on each other,” Sandburg quarterback Sean Ruisz said. “Our coach left before the season. [New coach Sheamus Murphy] came in and kept the boys together and kept us going.”

As for the unusual stuff, the Eagles ran several plays out of the seldom-seen Lonesome Polecat formation. One led to a touchdown. Each team tried and missed a field goal longer than 50 yards. And Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch was on the field behind one of the end zones watching in the second half until Lincoln-Way East Athletic Director Mark Vander Kooi asked him if he would leave.

The Griffins (7-2, 5-2) were missing two major star players, quarterback Jonas Williams and defensive lineman Jacob Alexander. Williams is a USC recruit and the top senior quarterback in the state. Alexander is an Illinois recruit.

But Sandburg (7-2, 5-2) had troubles of its own. Ruisz didn’t play last week because of a shoulder injury and hasn’t had a full-go practice in a week and a half, according to Eagles coach Sheamus Murphy.

“Things were very hazy until about 48 hours ago,” Murphy said. “We eased him in Tuesday and finally felt better yesterday.”

Ruisz was 13-for-21 for 172 yards with three TDs and two interceptions.

“To bring these boys together mentally was my biggest thing,” Ruisz said. “Physically I wasn’t there yet most of the week but yesterday I started to feel better.”

Ruisz connected with Quinn Durkin on a 38-yard TD pass that gave Sandburg a 14-13 lead with 7:36 left.

“I knew we needed to make a play,” Durkin said. “I was not playing the best. I was dropping passes right and left. But my teammates picked me up. My quarterback just put it on the money every time. I knew I needed to make a play for my brothers out there and play for them. We got it done.”

Durkin had three catches for 51 yards. Lucas Matykiewicz caught three passes for 47 yards, including a 31-yard TD pass with six seconds left.

“[Ruisz] is a natural-born quarterback and leader,” Durkin said. “You saw it all night. He played lights out, and he’s the reason we won.”

Luke Basiorka had 21 carries for 98 yards for the Eagles. Jeffery Bellik, who filled in at quarterback last week, caught a 44-yard TD pass to cut Lincoln-Way East’s lead to 10-7 late in the first half.

“[Bellik] is arguably our most valuable player,” Murphy said. “He long snaps, he holds, he plays receiver, he plays quarterback. I think he does our team laundry. Anything we need, he does it. It was so cool to see him get that big-time moment.”

Sandburg and Lincoln-Way East are 5-2 in the Southwest Valley Blue. Lockport and Naperville North are 4-2. The Porters are at Neuqua Valley on Friday and Naperville North is at Naperville Central. If two teams tie on top of the division, the tiebreaker is head-to-head. If more than two tie, it just stays tied.

However it shakes out, Murphy and the Eagles turned in a season that Orland Park will remember for a long time. The conference title back in 1995 was in the former SICA Conference, a name that only rings a bell to older high school sports fans.

“We’ve had a hard time handling success,” Murphy said. “We started out 5-0 for the first time since 1998 and then we lost two in a row. We were banged up a little bit but a lot of that was us thinking we are a little bit better than we are. We have to be able to handle success. Flush this tomorrow and move to the playoffs.”

Williams has missed the last two games for Lincoln-Way East. The Griffins lost to Naperville North without him last week. Sophomore Evan LeFevour started his first career game. He was 16-for-27 for 148 yards with one TD and two interceptions.

Navy recruit Brody Gish had 21 carries for 101 yards for Lincoln-Way East.

“The story of the night was a great job by Sandburg,” Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said. “We got out-competed and out-toughed a little bit. We know our situation with who is playing and who is not playing. That’s going to get better. Now we are who we are. We are a 7-2 football team and we are fading a little bit. Reinforcements are coming and we will see if we can get it fixed.”