Khairi Sias was waiting for the moment. 

When it came, the Lockport junior wide receiver made the most of it.

Sias hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to give the Porters a two-touchdown cushion. They held on for a 21-14 victory over Sandburg in a hard-fought Class 8A first-round playoff game on Saturday night in Orland Park.

It was the sixth straight win for the Porters (7-3), who will host another Southwest Valley Blue team, Homewood-Flossmoor, at 6 p.m. next Saturday in a second-round game.

“Our coaches are amazing,” Sias said. “This feels great.”

With Lockport clinging to a 7-point lead at midfield to open the fourth quarter, the coaches called Sias’ number. 

“That was all, Kristopher Norton,” Lockport coach George Czart said of the play call by his offensive coordinator. “He told me, ‘I’m going to throw it deep.’ I said, ‘It’s your game.’ Khairi had an extra-long run and got it.”

It was a perfect pass from senior quarterback Brendan Mecher, which Sias caught right as he was crossing the goal line for a 21-7 lead. It was his only reception of the game. 

“I had been waiting for that opportunity all game,” Sias said. “I had been blocking and waiting for that moment, and when my time came, it came. It was amazing, and it was a great ball.”

It was and Mecher, who was 8-of-16 for 117 yards, and added 20 carries for 80 yards, was ready to throw it. 

“Literally, I was telling him that I was going to get him one,” Mecher said of the TD pass. “I promised him, and being a dog, he went out and made the play.”

But the Eagles (7-3), who lost 28-7 to Lockport on October 10 when the teams met in a conference game, battled back.

Senior Jeffrey Bellik, who filled in as a quarterback for the final two and a half quarters in the team’s first meeting, tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to junior Lucas Matykiewicz to cap the ensuing drive and cut the lead to 21-14 with 8:28 to play.

Lockport held the ball for over six minutes but turned it over on downs at the Eagle 35 with 2:07 remaining. Sandburg had a second-and-6 at the Porter 44, but threw two straight incompletions to set up fourth down. Then Sandburg junior quarterback Sean Ruisz (7-of-15, 90 yards) was pressured by junior defensive end Darrell McCullough and threw an interception to Armando (AJ) Garcia Jr. with 58 seconds to play, and Lockport ran out the clock.

“The defense played amazingly, and came up with the big plays,” Mecher said. “It was an amazing neighborhood rivalry game, and we came out on top.”

Sandburg opened the scoring when junior running back Quinn Durkin darted around the left side and scored from 21 yards out with 5:54 left in the first quarter.  

An interception by senior safety Colton Benaitis set up a 24-yard field goal by Matt Blazewski with 4:49 left in the second quarter. But the senior kicker later left the game with an injury. Junior Zane Szynkowski filled in and lined a 30-yard field goal through the uprights on the last play of the first half to cut the lead to 7-6 at halftime.

Mecher capped a 76-yard, 13-play drive by plowing in from a yard out with 4:48 to play in the third quarter. Following a penalty on the extra point, the Porters decided to go for two, and Mecher ran that in for a 14-7 advantage.

The victory was the first postseason one for Lockport since it won the 2021 Class 8A State Championship. The Porters reached seven wins for the third time since capping a 34-4 three-season run in 2004.

The win was also an early birthday present for Czart, who turns 63 on Sunday, November 2. The team sang Happy Birthday to him following the game.

“They were a little bit out of key, but it was still good,” Czart smiled at the happy birthday song. “I’m going to enjoy my birthday. We knew we would have our hands full, and it was a total team victory.”