La Salle-Peru’s goal-line stand, 99-yard drive helps turn away Plano

PLANO – There’s often a very significant time and sequence within any tight football game that can seem to be the bellwether toward victory.

An early eight-minute span between the first and second quarters proved to be key as La Salle-Peru beat Plano, 14-7, in a hard-fought Interstate 8 Conference game on Saturday.

With Plano knocking on the door late in a scoreless first quarter, L-P turned the Reapers away after a gallant stop on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

From there, the Cavaliers embarked on a 99-yard drive that took 15 plays, as well as seven minutes and 54 seconds to complete.

Quarterback Tyler Hartman scored on a one-yard plunge on third down at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter that gave the Cavaliers a 6-0 lead. It came after the Reapers had thwarted L-P twice on goal-line efforts before Hartman finally hit pay dirt. It ended up as one of the linchpin moments and series of plays that ultimately spurred the Cavs (2-0, 2-0) to victory.

“Just like last week when we shut out Rochelle, I thought we really came to play defensively today against a very good Plano ball club,” said L-P coach Jose Medina. “We had a huge stop when we needed it in the first quarter and then immediately took a 90-yard field on offense and turned the tables after we almost let them score first. I thought that was definitely the key sequence of events that helped us earn a huge win this afternoon.”

Even after the disappointing early turn of events, the Reapers (1-2, 1-2) never wilted and had a chance at the end to mount one final drive to square things up that fell short.

“What I told our kids after the game and I’ve preached to them since I took over here is that a series of moments in a game like we had in the first half with L-P are decided on key plays,” Plano coach Rick Ponx said. “The reality of this game is if you don’t play hard within those series of plays or if you take a play off, those moments will come back and haunt you.

“Even though we competed hard during those minutes in the first half we didn’t score on the goal line and then let them go 99 yards for a touchdown. That was most definitely the difference in us losing this game today.”

On that first scoring drive for the Cavs, junior running back Matt Carrico (17 carries, 104 yards) was stellar as he reeled off 45 yards of the 99 before Hartman finally scored. It was Carrico’s second straight 100-yard effort to start the season.

“I just knew after that great stop by our defense I needed to step things up and help get us on the board,” Carrico said.

Plano had a chance to tie or go ahead before halftime but Reaper quarterback Sam Sifuentes was intercepted by L-P senior David Narkis at the 4-yard line, keeping the Cavaliers ahead 6-0.

Hartman did not return in the second half after an ankle injury late in the second quarter.

From there, junior Sean Whitfield took over at quarterback and spurred a 10-play, 59-yard drive that culminated with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ozzie Hernandez with 4:40 left in the third. L-P went ahead, 14-0, when Tre’von Hunter rambled home on the 2-point conversion.

But Plano countered soon after as Carnell Walls recovered an L-P fumble on the Cavs’ 43-yard line and the Reapers went to work with a seven-play, 57-yard drive that put them on the board.

Senior running back Anthony Licea (16 carries, 76 yards) eventually scored on a nifty 13-yard scamper at 9:56 of the final quarter to cut the gap to 14-7 before Licea made the extra point.

After a couple of possession changes, the Reapers had one last shot with very limited time in their own territory.

But Hunter sealed the game by intercepting Sifuentes to clinch the victory for L-P, which outgained Plano in total offense, 276-135.

“It wasn’t pretty but it’s a big win for us to go 2-0,” Medina said. “Hats off to our kids and the Plano kids as well. Both teams played hard and tough in a great high school football game.”