Matt Kies flew in and batted down a 2-point conversion pass in the final seconds as the Lockport Porters held on for a 21-20 victory over Homewood-Flossmoor in a classic Class 8A second-round matchup on a rainy Saturday night at Lockport.

Lockport (8-3) won its seventh straight game and will host Barrington in a quarterfinal matchup at 6 p.m. next Saturday.

It’s the fifth time in school history that the Porters have advanced to the quarterfinals. The previous three all resulted in Class 8A state championships.

“These are my brothers, and I love them,” Kies said. “I just knew I had to do my job, my 1/11th.”

H-F (6-5) did a great job in scoring a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to rally from a 14-point deficit. Junior quarterback Rahsaan Coleman threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior Myles Ellis with 25.7 seconds to play.

The Vikings, who beat Lockport 28-13 on the same field in Week 3 this season, decided to go for two and the win. On an option play, Ellis rolled to his right and threw a pass that was intended for sophomore Xavier Pratt, who appeared to be wide open. But Kies flew in at the last moment and leaped to swat the ball away.

“I just had to make a play for my team,” said Kies, who came back from missing his whole freshman football season with a fractured right hip. “I saw him (Pratt) waiting there for the ball and knew I had to swat it away.”

He did, but the excitement still wasn’t over.

The Vikings had a successful onside kick and recovered at the Lockport 47. But junior defensive back Jake Manzo made a tackle following a short pass play, and the clock ran down to just a few seconds by the time Coleman spiked it. Senior defensive back Drew Silzer intercepted his last pass, and the Porters hung on for a memorable win.

“It seemed that things were going against us most all of the fourth quarter, and we kept battling,” Lockport coach George Czart said. “Kies made a great play. Just to come in, see the ball like that, and make a great individual effort.

“Special groups do special things, and that’s what we have here.”

Coleman capped the game’s opening drive by running in from 9 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 6:10 left in the first quarter. The Porters came right back, and senior quarterback Brendan Mecher answered with a 9-yard TD run of his own with 11:54 left in the second quarter.

When H-F jumped offside on the extra point kick, the Porters took the penalty and went for two. Senior running back Chris Miller scored on that, and Lockport led 8-7.

With the wet conditions, Lockport had a fumble late in the second quarter, and senior linebacker Aeneas Allen recovered at the H-F 16 with 21.4 seconds left in the half, and the Vikings ran out the clock.

So it was still 8-7 at halftime and also 8-7 at the end of the third quarter. But the fourth quarter was wild. Miller, who had 23 carries for 141 yards, scored from 9 yards out with 11:20 left in the game. But the snap was high and the extra point kick was missed, leaving the score at 14-7.

Benaitis then recovered the ensuing short kickoff, setting the Porters up with good field position. Mecher then raced in on an 18-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-four play, and Lockport led 21-7 with 8:58 to play.

Mecher only completed two passes, but had 14 carries for 98 yards.

“That was a great play, one of the best I’ve seen in a while,” Mecher said of Kies’ tipped pass. “Matt is a great, young, scrappy player.

“We started 1-3, and we were still figuring things out. We’re a completely different team now. It feels amazing to go to the quarterfinals. I’m super excited.”

Taking advantage of a short field, senior Joaquin Jordan took a direct snap and scored from a yard out. Sophomore Adrian Desiderio added the extra point to cut the lead to 21-14 with 4:35 to play.

After an apparent roughing the punter penalty was waved off, the Vikings drove 65 yards in less than two minutes, including a 9-yard pass from Coleman to Ellis on fourth down to keep the drive alive. That set up the exciting finish.

“The awareness that Kies had to have to make that play was amazing,” Miller said. “This is the most exciting feeling I’ve had in my life. I had tears of joy coming off the field after the game.”