Chargers score last-second touchdown for first state title; Lafferty connects with Schmudlach for 21-14 win over DuQuoin

Illini West coach Jim Unruh kisses the Class 3A state championship trophy as offensive tackle Luke Burling watches Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

The last time football players from LaHarpe and Carthage traveled to Memorial Stadium on the same day, they were members of rival teams playing against each other for a football state championship in 2000.

This time, joined by players from Dallas City, they left Memorial Stadium as teammates on a Class 3A state championship team.

Quarterback Michael Lafferty connected with Jacob Schmudlach on an 18-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone with 25 seconds remaining to give Illini West a Class 3A state championship with a 21-14 win over the DuQuoin Indians Friday, Nov. 28, in Champaign.

The Lafferty to Schmudlach touchdown completed a nine-play, 65-yard drive in two minutes, 33 seconds. It was the team's second game-winning touchdown pass in two weeks. Lafferty connected with Zack Burling in last week's semifinal win over Oregon.

“It's unbelievable to win back-to-back games like this, and in the fashion we did,” said Illini West coach Jim Unruh. “We came back from 17 points last week, and we came back again this week.”'

“People think because of the success of this team that we don't know how to handle adversity,” said Illini West coach Tim Lafferty. “We do know how to handle it. That's showed up the last two weeks.”

Unruh said the team stayed focused on putting last week's thrilling win behind them and focus on the game in front of them.

“One of the things we talked about this week was not to let the semifinal game be our defining moment,” he said. “Now, I don't think that's going to be a problem.”

The Indians took the ensuing kickoff and had the ball at its own 41 with 25 seconds remaining in the game. On the first play, quarterback A.J. Hill, who has signed to play at Northern Illinois University, threw a pass down the middle of the field. Safety Zack Burling stepped in front of the pass for the interception.

It was the second week in a row that Burling had an interception to seal a win. He did the same thing last week in a 27-23 semifinal win over Oregon. He did do one thing differently this time- fall to the ground after catching the ball.

“Last week (Coach) Lafferty was upset that I tried to return it,” said Burling. “This time when I caught it I remembered what he said and just went down. I didn't want him to kill me.”

Illini West needed their last-second score to win after it looked like they were going to tie the game. Fullback Stefan Flynn, who ran for a game-high 213 yards, broke loose for a 33-yard touchdown run to pull Illini West to within 14-13 with 5:12 remaining in the game.

The extra point was blocked by Jamar Reed who came free off the corner, leaving the Chargers one-point behind.

“When (Reed) blocked the extra point, I thought that could be the play to help us win,” said Indians' coach Al Martin. “They came up with the big pass play at the end.”

The defense stopped DuQuoin on its following possession. Hill completed a seven-yard pass and had a one-yard run to set up third-and-two at their own 40 yard line. Hill went back to pass and linebacker Derek VanFleet sacked him for a six-yard loss, forcing a punt to set up the game-winning drive.

Illini West trailed 7-0 at halftime. Both teams failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities. DuQuoin turned the ball over on downs at the Illini West 16, and Illini West fumbled the ball at the DuQuoin 34, both in the first quarter.

The Indians then put together their best drive of the game, a 22-play drive that included three fourth down conversions, the last one a fourth-and-five pass to the Illini West one-yard line. Hill scored on the next play to end the 78-yard drive that took eight minutes off the clock.

The Chargers had another drive into DuQuoin territory before halftime, but Lafferty was intercepted by David Rose inside the 10-yard line to end the half.

“We went in at halftime and the guys were discouraged, but at the same time I think they knew they were the better team,” said Unruh. “We didn't go through a lot of Xs and Os.”

Another fumble ended the Illini West offense's first drive of the third quarter inside the 10-yard line. The defense forced a DuQuoin punt, and the offense drove 38 yards in six plays. Flynn scored on a two-yard run up the middle, and Lafferty's extra point tied the game 7-7 with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter.

The Indians marched from their 23, and punched the ball in on the 16th play on a one-yard touchdown pass from Hill to Rose with 16 seconds remaining in the quarter. The extra point gave DuQuoin the 14-7 lead.

The teams traded punts before Flynn's second touchdown run of the day closed the score to 14-13.

The win was the program's first state championship in its two-year history as they finished the season 14-0. The game was the first state title for long-time LaHarpe coach Tim Lafferty, who finished in second place in 1996 and 2000, and was the first 3A state title for long-time Carthage coach Jim Unruh.

Illini West outgained DuQuoin 434-236 in total yards. The defense held the Indians to 91 yards on 34 carries (2.7 average).

Beals finished with 12 carries for 88 yards for Illini West. Drake Schmudlach had six carries for 56 yards. Lafferty ran five times for 12 yards.

Jacob Schmudlach had two catches for 26 yards. Zack Burling had one catch for 19 yards. Flynn had one catch for 12 yards.

Lafferty was 4-for-10 passing for 57 yards.

VanFleet led the defense with 14 tackles, including two for loss. Dakota Hicks had eight tackles. Chris Corzatt and Ross Hutson each had seven tackles. Justin Graves and Jesse Holtsclaw each had six tackles.

Hill was 16-for-31 passing for 145 yards for DuQuoin. He also ran 23 times for 45 yards. Reed ran 10 times for 45 yards.

Seth Flint caught six passes for 55 yards. Rose caught five passes for 27 yards. Dalton Morgan caught two passes for 48 yards.